Podcasts about sugarfina

In this episode: Would you pay over $5 million for a rare dog? [0:38] Why Snow White flopped at the box office [3:00] A lost decade for Disney investors [14:25] Dollar Tree's loss highlights an under-the-radar crisis [15:36] Accredited investors: This rare opportunity ends soon! [19:58] GameStop's Bitcoin announcement is the tip of the iceberg [26:58] A handful of major catalysts for crypto [30:33] Alphabet's AI win… and the next stage of artificial intelligence [46:06] A word of caution on trading China [54:05] Editor's note: Time is running out to join Frank in his biggest private placement ever. Curzio One's Sugarfina deal closes on MARCH 31—so if you're an accredited investor and you want in, you must act FAST. Get all the details on this unheard-of deal here: https://secure.curzioresearch.com/checkout/one-2025/?utm_source=libsyn&utm_medium=250326_curzioone_pp_Libsyn Did you like this episode? Get more Wall Street Unplugged FREE each week in your inbox. Sign up here: https://curzio.me/syn_wsu Find Wall Street Unplugged podcast… --Curzio Research App: https://curzio.me/syn_app --iTunes: https://curzio.me/syn_wsu_i --Stitcher: https://curzio.me/syn_wsu_s --Website: https://curzio.me/syn_wsu_cat Follow Frank… X: https://curzio.me/syn_twt Facebook: https://curzio.me/syn_fb LinkedIn: https://curzio.me/syn_li

This week in the guest chair we have Marty McDonald, founder of Elle Olivia & Boss Women Media. Her background in corporate laid the foundation to launching Boss Women Media, the offline/online women's empowerment community. After a challenging experience with giving birth to her first child, Marty translated that same idea of empowerment to launch Elle Olivia, a lifestyle brand for young Black and Brown girls.In this episode she shares:How she landed her brand Elle Olivia in over 400 Target locations nationwide within the first year of launchingHow she strategically re-invested revenue from side hustling into her businesses How she oversees a multi-city Black Girl Magic Tour, the annual Boss Woman of the Year Summit, and serves a loyal community of more than 100,000 womenHighlights Include:00:00 Intro02:38 Navigating corporate America 11:30 Pitching to Sugarfina14:32 Launching Boss Women Media16:52 Monetizing the business & impactful collaboration27:43 Staying nimble and pivoting at the right time34:02 Navigating a challenging pregnancy 38:10 Creating a brand for Black and Brown girls48:18 The power of a strong team54:00 Tips for entrepreneurs Check out episode 404 of Side Hustle Pro podcast out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTubeLinks mentioned in this episodeBoss Women Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bosswomenmedia/ Elle Olivia Website: https://shopelleolivia.com/ Elle Olivia at Target: https://www.target.com/b/elle-olivia/-/N-q643le95h07 Sugarfina: https://www.sugarfina.com/ Power Thoughts Devotional: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/power-thoughts-devotional/id715337851 Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rssAnnouncementsJoin our Facebook CommunityIf you're looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebookGuest Social Media InfoMarty's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martytmcdonald/ Boss Women Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bosswomenmedia/ Elle Olivia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopelleolivia/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Josh Resnick is the co-founder of candy brand Sugarfina, where he sold very expensive gummy bears that made people happy. Before Sugarfina, he sold his video game developer Pandemic Studios for $860M.  He is now a General Partner at OpenSky Ventures where he invests in the future of commerce and helps founders avoid pitfalls of growing too fast--adding SKUs too quickly, not having a handle on business data, overspending on legal and other lessons he's learned from his founder and angel investing journey.  

In this episode of The Playbook, I sit down with Scott LaPorta and Payton White, CEO and Director of Marketing of Sugarfina. We talk about Scott acquiring the Sugarfina brand, the cult following they've built, and the existing collaboration opportunities with the brand today. Scott talks about the importance of structuring a deal correctly and what they learned from operating during the pandemic. Payton concludes by going over their collaborations with live events and how they navigate their marketing strategies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This season on Step by Step, we are asking what does “seamless” mean to my eCommerce business and how do I demystify that in a way that helps me select the right solutions and softwares that make a seamless experience come to life? Join us as we hear from Michael Chen, Director of eCommerce Operations at Sugarfina, to break down the term “single handshake” and look more closely at consolidation of operations in your eCommerce business. Listen now!In this episode:{0:08:20} - “From the backend side, there are a lot of softwares we have to use to eliminate all the friction points from the time {consumers} find the website and go on the website to check out and pay. That should be really, really smooth.” - Michael{0:14:32} - “Right now everything is in Magento. We have Adobe Live Search, we have Product Recommendations, and everything is working in one place. So I don't have to go to different places, which save a lot of time and headache.” - Michael{0:16:01} - “Saving money is an important thing, but I would look at it as is the software actually better. If you're going to consolidate, is it actually better for the business? There are a lot of factors, so I wouldn't say saving money is the most important thing. There's a lot of research you have to do.” - Michael{0:18:32} - “To extract the most amount of value from any piece of software requires an intimate understanding and time spent in using the software, and the hard things become easy over time. So you grow into these capabilities. You don't just turn it on on day one.” - Phillip{0:23:51} - “You have to be focused on forward progress and continual improvement because your competitors are, and if they're doing it, you have to be more efficient and more optimized.” - MichaelAssociated Links:Learn more about Michael Chen and Sugarfina.Listen to more Step by Step episodes.Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our recently published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world! Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

End to a massive year, including big bonuses in December from Morgan Stanley and Public, along with a breakdown of all 2022 churns, plus a bonus recap of listener & subscriber stats from the podcast.(2:08) - Credit cards (MS Amex Plat, Chase Inks)(8:28) - Banks (DCU, Laurel, Upgrade)(12:50) - Brokerages (Public)(14:39) - Cellphones (Costco, Mint)(18:12) - Mealkits (Green Chef, HelloFresh)(20:41) - Freebies & Discounts (Peloton, Target, Turbotax, Sugarfina, Chase offers, Doordash, Apple Music, SiriusXM, StudentBeans, Dell, Starbucks)(32:47) - December tally ($3,135 + 416K points)(34:08) - 2022 tally ($32,454 + 981K points)(44:36) - Bonus: Podcast stats

Gift giving season is here and even though we think it's just fine NOT to exchange gifts, consumable gifts are our first choice. They are easy to gift and don't leave behind a bunch of clutter. From candy and candles, to miles and books, you'll enjoy these thoughtful ideas for your neighbors, co-workers, team, friends and family, and other loves.   Favorite Things Bailey:  All My Rage Taylor Swift Midnights Album    Favorite Things Courtney: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin Afternoon tonic I found here on tiktok.    SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! 31 DAYS OF GIFTS is open!   PATREON:Support us on Patreon! Check out our Tall, Grande, and Venti tiers.   Episode Notes and Resources:  Holiday Candy from Sugarfina  Uncommon Goods  Masterclass  Use the Code BEAUTIFULDETOUR to get 15% off on Equilibria   If you are interested in sponsoring an episode of Soul & Wit, contact us here: soulandwitpodcast@gmail.com   Where you can find us: Bailey: @beautifuldetour or www.beautifuldetour.com Courtney: @bemorewithless or www.bemorewithless.com

Tapping gently on: 00:36 - HEAVENLY beads 04:32 - Cleansing your pallet with soft sounds 09:15 - Clicky Makeup bag.... zzzzzzz 18:00 try not to fall asleep, I dare you! :D 19:32 - TEABOX 24:08 - Sugarfina box ♥ 29:02 - Tapping on my paintings 34:52 - Tapping on paint skins ♥ 40:08 - Tapping on your face (lens :) Sweet dreams ♥ Thank you for watching ♥ #ASMR #GentleWhispering #relax 2/19/18 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/maria-gentlewhispering/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-gentlewhispering/support

Deciding who will be standing by your side throughout the wedding planning process and on your wedding day is one of the first decisions engaged couples have to think through–From the number of wedding party attendants to have (if any) and when to ask them to be a part of your “I Do” crew to what is expected of these individuals, tune-in this week to hear all our thoughts on wedding parties! Plus, we discuss when it's appropriate as a planner to share your advice free-of-charge or offer paid mentorship consultations with fellow industry pros. Discussed in this episode: Wedded Monthly Planning Checklist (https://www.weddedshop.com/product-page/monthly-planning-checklist) Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/) Sugarfina (https://www.sugarfina.com/) A Signature Welcome (https://asignaturewelcome.com/) Visit Our Website:https://www.WeddedPodcast.comGrab Our Freebies And Planning Tools:www.WeddedShop.comEmail Us All Of Your Questions and Comments:Questions@WeddedPodcast.comFind Us On Social:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weddedpodcastRead About Our Hosts:Tracy Taylor Ward DesignWebsite: https://www.TracyTaylorWard.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracytaylorwardShannon Leahy EventsWebsite: https://www.ShannonLeahy.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/shannonleahyevents

Ryan was the attorney for Vitamin Water in its early days and was with the company all the way through it's sale to Coke for over $4 billion. We talk about the VitaminWater story along with others he's worked with in the CPG industry. Ryan's firms has worked with hundreds of other consumer product companies including Glaceau (creator of VitaminWater and SmartWater), Pirate's Booty, Pretzel Crisps, Vita Coco, Siggi's, WTRMLN WTR, Mamma Chia, Sir Kensington's, Hint, Califia Farms, Krave, HappyBaby, Chameleon Cold Brew, Essentia, Rhythm Superfoods, Peeled, Runa, Oatmega, Sugarfina, Juice Press and many more.  About Ryan Lewendon Ryan is a Partner at Giannuzzi Lewendon, a premier boutique law firm that focuses on the representation of privately-held, high-growth consumer products companies. Prior to joining Giannuzzi Lewendon in 2011, Ryan was an associate at Donovan & Giannuzzi LLP. Since 2007, Ryan has focused his practice on helping innovative consumer products entrepreneurs grow their companies by navigating both the day-to-day hurdles and the tent-pole obstacles and opportunities a consumer products company must navigate on its way towards an acquisition. Ryan has assisted hundreds of companies structure and negotiate their distributor, broker and supplier relationships, employee incentive programs and advisory networks, and celebrity/influencer endorsements and promotional partnerships. Ryan has advised clients through financing transactions at every stage of their growth cycle – from angel investments to rounds with institutional investors. He has recently assisted clients in exit transactions with acquirers such as Coke, Pepsi, General Mills, Boulder Brands, Group Danone, Bacardi, General Mills and others. Ryan grew up in Hamden, Connecticut. He received a M.S in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Tulane University and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, where he was a member of the Moot Court Honors Society's Sports Law team. When he isn't busy helping bring emerging brands to the mainstream, he is an avid runner, reader and raconteur. He resides in Manhattan, New York. Join over 17,000 others and sign up to receive bonus content with the EDGE's weekly newsletter.   It's free sign up here >>> EPISODE LINKS: Giannuzzi Lewendon PODCAST INFO: Apple Podcasts: EDGE on Apple Podcasts Spotify: EDGE on Spotify  RSS Feed: EDGE's RSS Feed Website: EDGE Podcast SUPPORT & CONNECT EDGE's Weekly NewsletterJoin over 17,000 others and sign up to receive bonus content. It's free sign up here >>> Please Support this Podcast by checking out our Sponsors: Mad River Botanicals 100% certified organic CBD products. The product is controlled from seed to end product by it's owners. Use code: EDGE22 to get 10% off all your orders. Shop here>>> A top podcast for entrepreneurs!

Imagine this: You’ve developed a new product. One that you know works… and that you know people need. There’s just one minor problem: Selling that product requires you to not only enter a battlefield filled with regulatory land mines, but face competition with billions of dollars at its disposal. We’re seeing this situation play out in the multi-trillion-dollar industry that is supplement and pharmaceutical sales. It’s an industry that entrepreneurs everywhere are trying to make waves in, and just like any other industry, finding success means coupling the right product with the right strategy.Zak Williams was able to kick the door open with his company, PYM, which sells all-natural amino acid-infused chews that have proven mental health benefits. Zak is the son of the late actor, Robin Williams, and he is using his own experiences navigating the ups and downs of mental health to help him build PYM into a company that advocates for mental health support in whatever way works best for the individual. Practically, that means working out a business strategy that allows PYM to not compete against big pharma, but sit alongside it. And it includes developing new kinds of convergent experiences that allow consumers to operate in a physical and digital world simultaneously. Zak explains all of that and more on this episode of Up Next in Commerce. Main Takeaways:Play Where You Can Win: For companies that are selling natural products, trying to sell in the same channels as big pharma would be a mistake. Not only will you not be able to make the same claims about proven solutions, but you will not be able to afford to acquire enough customers to make it worth it. Instead, find other channels or methods of marketing where you can stand out, either organically, or in a more affordable way.Do Your Research: Making wild, unproven claims has always been a bad strategy for brands, but it is especially reckless when it comes to how something can affect a person’s physical or mental health. Invest in real research to back up the claims you are making, and be authentic with your message. Rather than trying to convince customers your product can cure something, help them open their minds to new experiences and products that might be part of a daily ritual or personal blend of what works on an individual basis.Convergent Experiences: As a new normal emerges post-pandemic, brands will need to focus on creating convergent experiences that allow people to engage in the physical world while still using a digital experience to achieve goals and objectives.For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.---Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce---Transcript:Stephanie:Welcome back to Up Next in Commerce. This your host, Stephanie Postles, co-founder at Mission. Today I'm chatting with Zak Williams, the co-founder and CEO at Pym. Zak, welcome to the show.Zak:Thank you so much, Stephanie. It's a pleasure to be here.Stephanie:Yeah. I'm very, very excited to have you on. I was going through my amazing prep dock, and I first thought that Hillary was playing a joke on me when she wrote down Zak's the son of actor Robin Williams. She likes to put in silly things to see if I'm going to go with it. Then I'm like, oh wait, this is actually real. I started reading a bit about your story and your company, and I would love for you to actually start with that. Tell me a bit about what led you to Pym, and yeah, expand on that, because I was really excited to hear about the full story.Zak:Yeah, certainly. What led me to starting Pym, the mental health support company, started very early on in life. I had anxiety throughout my teens that manifested into something more extreme after my dad, the entertainer, Robin Williams, died by suicide. I found myself experiencing bouts of depression, also extreme anxiety and stress episodes. I was feeling like my life was becoming unmanageable. I was trying to use alcohol to self medicate and was trying to find any other solution that would work. I tried cannabis products, had prescription pharmaceuticals, which work for many people. For me, I didn't find the solution that necessarily helped me in a way that would work in perpetuity. Then I found some help in things like talk therapy and alike.Zak:Through that experience, a couple things happened. One was I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was dealing with a lot of issues associated with that. The other thing is I started to find help and support through committing to service, specifically working with mental health organizations, not for profits; supporting them around things like governance, organizational development, fundraising initiatives, strategy, business development. Whatever it is they needed help with, I wanted to jump in and support because I found actually that commitment to mental health organizations really helped me. Through that experience, another thing started to happen, which I found that me sharing my story and what I went through really helped others while helping myself. I found that being vulnerable and taking a lens of vulnerability and opening up really ultimately ended up starting that process of healing for me. I found that mental health advocacy is one component.Zak:The second component is when I took self medication out of the equation, using alcohol, and by the end I was drinking alcoholically and it was just not good for my mental health. I was feeling very emotionally dysregulated and not having a great time. When I cut out alcohol, I was still really stressed and really anxious, and realized that I needed something to support me throughout the day. I found a solution that my wife introduced me to. My wife, Olivia June, who's also co-founder of Pym. She turned me on to amino acid formulations, which when I tried them were a game changer. They helped me feel clear and erased the anxiety that I was feeling and that was ultimately crippling me. She was introduced to this sublingual tincture by one of her doctors. When I tried it, I was just like wow, this is transformative.Zak:Armed with the insights of mental health advocacy is very healing for me, and amino acid formulations really helped support me throughout the day, I realized there was an opportunity to develop something that was very near and dear to my heart, but also helpful for people while focused on the core mission of mental health support. I started Pym with the lens of creating a brand that stands for mental health support, like Red Bull stands for energy. In starting the company, we kicked off the food science and product development element of that in 2019 and created something that was both safe and effective, while also being delicious. We worked with a food scientist named Lena Kwak, who was the director and research and development for The French Laundry, which is a restaurant in northern California; a very well-known internationally regarded restaurant in California. We wanted to create something that had a great taste and smell and a texture that felt unique but also toothsome.Zak:We came upon something that we ended up testing with our early beta testers that they liked and they found effective. We kicked off the commercialization phase when we decided that everything was in line with not only how we wanted it, but how our beta testers felt it should be. Through that process, we hired the chief operating officer of Sugarfina; a wonderful man named Scott Cuillard who came on as our chief operating officer, and he accelerated the process of commercialization by 200%. Now we're at market. We're just getting this feedback from our customers and early advocates that our product is a lifeline and it's helping people in a very significant way and we're doing these giveback campaigns where we're supporting mental health organizations, starting with Bring Change to Mind, which is an organization I'm on the board of that focuses on developing communities and high schools for mental health support, while launching campaigns to break down the stigma associated with mental health.Zak:Moving into 2021, we will be deepening our relationship with Bring Change to Mind and have a portion of our proceeds of every sale going to supporting building mental health communities and high schools. That's what we've been up to in a nutshell. The why behind it relates very much to mental health advocacy. We see ourselves as a brand that stands for advocacy and we want to really triple down on supporting the movement associated with mental health. That's what we're all about.Stephanie:That's great. It seems like this kind of product would have a lot of barriers to entry, because when I think about the market right now around mental health products and CBD and cannabis and all this stuff, there's already a market there. There's already been a lot of messaging, a lot of advertising before a product based on amino acids, which honestly, I haven't even really heard of that. Tell me a bit about how you overcame those barriers and educated new audiences or are starting to. I know you just recently launched, but tell me a little bit about that process to really get your product on the front of people's mind.Zak:Sure. Amino acid formulations for mental health support is not a new thing. We didn't miraculously come upon something that was new to the world. They were gaining momentum and popularity as a way to provide mental health support by balancing out the endocrine system in the 80s and 90s. Something happened in the 90s that set off an era of a pill to solve all your problems in life. Kind of that era of taking a curative approach to symptoms. Do you know what that event might be?Stephanie:I'm guessing you're talking about prescription pills, but I don't know what the event is.Zak:Yeah. Actually, it's a very specific prescription pill. It was the creation of Prozac. The profound thing about Prozac is it was a product that would function as an antidepressant that would not kill you if you took it in excess or stopped taking it, because at the time, the available toolkit of prescription pharmaceuticals had toxicity associated with them. In certain situations, you could take a product and if you stopped taking it, you would be at risk of severely debilitating affects in the like. Prozac created kind of a safe mechanism to provide mental health support. By the way, I'm a big believer in prescription medication being helpful for many, many millions of people. I don't want to make it seem like I'm not supportive, but the momentum that amino acid formulations were getting kind of fell by the wayside and didn't favor of this era that lasted a couple decades of a pill to solve all your problems.Zak:It's only been in the last five plus, just over five years, from my perspective, that the whole idea of seeing the individual as a system, as a collection of interacting organs and functions working together to help support and sustain the body, that idea and premise has really been embraced in a major way by the medical community. Going hand in hand with that is the idea and premise that you can take certain products, to kind of balance yourself out, because they provide support for a number of different systems and create kind of a balanced ecosystem to better help you. That's kind of where amino acid formulations kind of come into play.Zak:From our perspective, we just concentrated these existing amino acids in a way in which they actually provided a more comprehensive form of support for stress and anxiety with our first product. That's the story in brief, but the challenge is very specifically we need to popularize amino acid support as a way of providing mental health support, because there's science and research behind. Science, research and studies behind amino acids being helpful for people, but people aren't too aware of it.Zak:As part of forming the company and making the effort to formulate something that's helpful for people, we established the science advisory board from Harvard Medical School, UCSF, USC, and MIT, and with specific focus on neuroscience and neuroendocrinology, with some mental health epidemiology being an element of that as well. As part of that, we are in the process of establishing a pre-trial study, which we'll then use as a foundation to go into an actual clinical study that we'll be using to really get a deeper understanding of how we can provide decisive support for the mind and the body. We're kind of in the brave new world of natural compounds providing support both for the brain and the mind and also the body, but I'm an advocate and believer in compounds that are safe and effective.Stephanie:Yeah. It does feel like the timing's right. 2020 is a year where I've at least seen a very big shift in not only healthy living, but people actually looking into the source of what they're ingesting and thinking about healthy alternatives to not only their diet but also things they're taking, whether it's prescriptions or whatever it may be. Stephanie:It feels like the market's ready for it, but then figuring out ways, like you're doing, to pull it together and put it in an easily, I guess, consumable format where people kind of know, oh, here's the five things that are coming together, here's what they're going to do. Someone's already done the science behind me, instead of trying to piecemeal these extracts and things off of Amazon together to try and fix a need based on all the YouTubers and influencers and people who are telling you oh, this is good for this, and this is good for this. It's so much information now.Zak:Right. That's what I was doing. I was cobbling together an experience that helped me, but it was a bunch of different products. I agree. I think that there is a major opportunity on the research side too. There's some great companies that are focused on establishing more research through studies. Some registered, some focused more so on doing the research to really understand how things work prior to actually doing registered studies. There's organizations and companies that are focused on actually creating frameworks to do the testing. I will give a specific shout-out to my buddy, Jeff Chen, who was one of the founders of the Cannabis Research Initiative at UCLA, and he recently started a company focused on doing research around natural compounds. His new company, Radical Science, is hyper-focused on establishing frameworks, specifically clinical frameworks, around testing for natural products. It's so essential that people actually really start understanding what it is they're putting in their body to support themselves.Stephanie:How do you approach that regulatory field? Like you said, to me, it sounds so scary entering a market like this one where you're doing things for the first time, it's new, people aren't used to it. How did you approach this field and did you find any quick paths to get past some of the crazy rules and regulations to be able to actually start creating a product and testing it and seeing how it would work?Zak:Yeah. Great question. It wasn't a cold start for me. I have several years of experience working with complex compliance and regulatory environments due to investing, advising, working within the cannabis industry.Stephanie:Got it. Okay. That's good background. You weren't a newbie to this. I've done this before.Zak:No. The lens we take. I say we in terms of our team and our advisory board is prioritizing compliance and safety. In starting the company, we sought the most sophisticated advising we could get. We need to continue prioritizing safety as front and center with what we do. We're a dietary supplement as a product class, and it's important to consider how we make claims. We are very cautious with how we do so because from our perspective, we are given the privilege and opportunity to provide support for people given a specific framework, and we want to be considerate of that framework. The key thing for us is as we go about doing studies and the like is we want to develop a deeper understanding of how we're actually providing support for people.Stephanie:Is your goal to not just be a dietary supplement eventually?Zak:The big goal for us would be to become a doctor recommended product, or there's a class of products called a medical food. What a medical food is is a product that is meant to support specific disease states in the like. It's a product class. It means there's a lot of research behind how it's been effective to support different states. You can make specific sets of claims.Zak:From our lens, the reason why medical food establishing that type of status is important for us is because that way we can actually say we've done X amount of research, it's shown to be statistically significant, and we can really make these specific claims around supporting people. That's a process. That takes a long time to do. It's not inexpensive. There's stages that we're required to kind of get through to get to that point.Stephanie:How much money are you estimating it could cost to have your product become medically food stamped? That's a weird term.Zak:There's a range. Depends on what type of condition we're seeking to support and how long the study is meant to be conducted. Generally, these studies are months long. In some cases, over a year. It's not inexpensive. Let me frame it like that.Stephanie:Yeah. I guess that it what makes me worry about maybe new entrepreneurs who see opportunities or if they're like you, but they don't have connections and they don't have the story that you have and maybe the status. You'll probably be like, don't say that, but you have a lot of things that maybe a lot of others don't. It seems like innovation's going to kind of stall if it takes so much money to get something natural into the world, or a blend of something natural, and then to be recommended over top of prescription drugs where these pharmaceutical companies have huge amounts of money and marketing.Stephanie:I read this whole book about... what was it called? Let me think. It was called like the cure to cancer or cure of cancer. Something that was abour apricot oil and the apricot seed. I don't know if you've ever read this before, but it was about how this guy was showing that apricot oil, I think that's the kind of oil it was, was having a big impact on cancer and cells and all this. All a sudden, these big pharmaceutical companies start putting out hits on him. He had to go to a whole different country to prescribe it. It seems like an insane world to even try to do something new just to start, and then also not having a huge budget or connections. It doesn't feel like anyone can enter this market, really.Zak:There's ways to do it. The barrier to entry in terms of launching a natural product is not as high as, say, launching a pharmaceutical product. You have to make certain assertions to say hey, this product will be effective. It seems to help people, and you have to generate demand. We've very much in the business of demand-gen. From a Pharma perspective, I would say that pharmaceutical companies are actually taking a lens of openness towards utilizing natural compounds to better support people.Stephanie:They're not taking out hits on you.Zak:No. Where it gets challenging is if you're going out and saying, we have a mental health support solution, and you go in certain channels where you're trying to advertise, you just get squished. You just can't afford to acquire a customer when you're talking about going in a channel which people are seeking certain mental health support solutions through search, for example.Stephanie:You have to find ways to maybe be innovative to not have to rely on the same channels as maybe the big Pharma companies and find ways to get to the users who are probably looking for that, but they just don't know exactly what to look for or the terms to search for.Zak:The big advantage that entrepreneurs should look for when it comes to creating an edge, an unfair advantage in this space is distribution advantages.Stephanie:Tell me more about that.Zak:Direct to consumer, there are some advantages, but there's also some disadvantages. We have had limited success with paid search. It's just hard for us because when people are searching for specific needs, that can be very expensive from an SEM perspective.Stephanie:What do you do instead if paid search is expensive for us? What kind of channels are you maybe looking at instead or experimenting with where maybe you're finding better results?Zak:We've had enormous success with earned media and organic SEO in the like, but that's a strategy we set out from the get go in applying. I come by our company and the products very honestly. Part of what I do in mental health advocacy is just share on a story consistently and when it's combined with Pym, people are curious. Sometimes they end up being drawn and attracted to our product. The thing too, which we found has been helpful for folks is that we're not advocating for a product to be a cure-all. It's actually kind of I don't want to say the opposite, because that's not quite what it is, but it's kind of adjacent to that. Really what we're saying for is our product's a catalyst. We want to get people into the mindset of prioritizing mental health hygiene as part of their daily rituals. Hopefully our product's a catalyst. If they're taking our product as the solution for their mental health support over the course of their day, that's great, but ideally, they should be doing other things to best support themselves.Stephanie:I think that's the messaging that will win going forward. All the companies I've had on the show so far, so many people talk about authentic messaging and not just having the same kind of corporate speak like maybe they used to years prior or something. I think thinking about how to craft that going forward, it's actually more trustworthy if you say something like, this isn't a fix. This is meant to be a part of your daily routine along with exercise and eat healthy and whatever else you need to do to stay healthy.Zak:Yeah. The thing for us we really want to push for and advocate for, something I call enrichment loops. Meaning if you come to our product and take it on a consistent basis, hopefully it adds value every time. Meaning you're clear headed, you can learn something, you can engage in an activity that's helpful. If that's not the solution for you, then we're not going to push it on you. Do something else that helps you. Again, this is where prescription pharmaceuticals, if you're finding a solution with prescriptions, by all means, take that solution. If it's meditation, if it's mindfulness activity, if it's a fitness regimen, If it's nutrition. For most people, it's most likely a mix. For me, it's a mix of meditation, eating well, some fitness, but I could definitely be better on it. I take Pym because it helps me. I'm a big believer in talk therapy and community support groups. That's my mix.Zak:To close on the unfair advantages in distribution. If you have a digital channel like an app or something, we're exploring creating a companion experience. That gives you an ownership of being able to really provide unique insight, pushed out notifications, establish a foundation of data that better helps you understand what it is a customer needs and there's an advantage there. I think blending DTC with Omnichannel is a huge opportunity, but Omnichannel can often work as just establishing brand presence that ultimately pushes people into DTC, or vice versa. It could be DTC that ultimately pushes people into a daily loop, ideally an enrichment loop, around purchasing products at their natural grocer. Okay. I'll close at that, but I think focusing on unfair advantages in distribution is how entrepreneurs will get ahead in a very challenging space.Stephanie:The one thing I've heard a lot is a lot of entrepreneurs that I've talked to on the show, a lot of them have really good stories, but not everyone tells it. Some people are hesitant to tell their story. Did you experience this with everything that happened? Did you ever feel a need to pull back and you weren't sure if you wanted to share or you weren't sure what you wanted to talk about? Tell me a bit about how you thought about sharing your story and resonating with people. Were you scared at an point to do that, because I've heard a lot of people have been? I don't know to tell.Zak:Regarding story, look, the lens I take is that there's great strength in vulnerability. I've been guarded a large part of my life, and not sharing my experience and alike, I've realized that I was losing out on opportunities to help people. I was given many advantages in life, and there are elements that have been disadvantageous. Instead of seeing it as that and seeing it as kind of a foundation for resentment or being annoyed around certain things, I say, this is just part of my experience. There might be shared experiences or there might be something that would be unique to your experience or not very many people, and I think that needs to be embraced.Zak:My whole thing is share my perspective and story. As it relates to Pym, try to be considerate of really the advocacy that underlines what we're doing as well because that's what really matters at the end of the day. I think people just need to find what it is that they want to tell, and really understand that they're crafting their story in the present, in the now. You don't want someone else's story. Own your own. It's a muscle. I had a lot of fear and anxiety around sharing stuff for a large part of my life.Stephanie:Now you're talking about even before your dad's passing you were not very vulnerable. What pushed you to want to start sharing, and why do you think you were holding back before?Zak:I think I was doing certain things that I was ashamed of. Drinking has always been a problem for me. I'll be perfectly honest, and it was something that only came to a head where I was like whoa, this is getting out of control after my dad died by suicide, but prior to that, it was something that was a challenge and I wasn't liking doing it. I think there were elements of my story that I was ashamed of, perfectly frankly. To be perfectly frank about it. In that, I realized there's certain elements of my story that are private and I relate to being considerate of the sphere of individuals or communities that are titled to that. Then there's elements that I love to share and talk about. The thing for me is when it comes to mental health, talking about mental health and alike, I like talking about it because it's very healing for me.Stephanie:Mm-hmm (affirmative).Zak:Yeah.Stephanie:Very cool. Before the show started, we were talking a little bit about converging experiences, and I want to hear how you're thinking about this, especially with probably giving certain talks that now, this past year, had to all be virtual and not as much in person. Tell me a little bit about how you're thinking about online and offline blending and what you guys are betting on for next year.Zak:Well, the big bet we're making is that people will continue needing mental health support products.Stephanie:After 2020, yes.Zak:Yeah. Here's the thing is that relative to the pandemic, there's been a shift into the COVID pandemic. We can talk about the parallel mental health pandemic, which is a thing too. There's been a shift to kind of embracing and engaging, or customers, communities, populations embracing and engaging in digital experiences, whether it's telehealth, things like that or for meetings, remote work, Zoom, things like that. We're hitting the stage where we're starting to see what a post-pandemic world will look like. Just little glimpses of it. There will likely be people wanting to connect with other people in person, people wanting to go out and shop and dance and eat out in the open. There will be certain habits and there will be people who have become acclimated to digital experiences, but people will also want to go out into the world. I think it'll be interesting to see the blend of online and offline that's going to be this new paradigm. I think as we're thinking about it Pym, we're very much thinking about establishing a companion experience to support people throughout their daily activity. Zak:For us, there is a need to really establish a better understanding of how people are requiring mental health support products and experiences. In the neuroscience community, there's something called an adjuvant experience, which has shown to be very helpful. What adjuvant means is... it's very simple. It's just something in something else.Stephanie:Something in something else. Wait. What? Sounds simple, but I don't get it.Zak:No, it's just an adjuvant experience is talk therapy and some sort of prescription protocol.Stephanie:Oh. Okay. Blending two things together. Got it.Zak:Yeah. That's adjuvant experience. From our lens, we wanted to create an adjuvant experience that is fun, accessible and accretive in terms of delivering value and support for people. The two things that are most helpful, at least based upon my experience talking with researchers and doctors and scientists about how consumer oriented mental health support experiences can help people is insight and community. The insight component involves behavioral recommendations, maybe data, specific things that help people live a life that they want to live. The community component involves supporting authentic connection with people. Those are the hints in terms of how we're thinking about developing an adjuvant experience, which ideally we hope to be convergent.Zak:I see there's an enormous opportunity, and it's very hard to get right. I'll say that. It's in the cake walk, because you need to really factor in blending the online and offline experience into something that feels natural and seamless and ideally, fun. I think a lot of companies are going to be taking that tack, because events are going to be really big, people are going to start eating out again, people are going to start shopping beyond just kind of going out and doing a foray out into the wild and then coming back.Stephanie:Oh, it just went to Costco. What a blast.Zak:For instance, where Target has really done an excellent job is on their pick-up experience. It's been a game changer for Target this year in 2020. Where you shop, you order online, and then you go to Target and you pick things up. You pick stuff up. That's technically a convergent experience, blending online and offline because it involves you having to engage in the physical world and using a digital experience to achieve your goals and objectives. I think most companies are going to have to think about that in a very meaningful way in order to maintain an edge. I think telehealth platforms have achieved a huge boost this year, but there's going to be some reversion, and it's not going to be a reversion to the previous me. They need to think about okay, what is it that we can do to establish an edge to further support people when they go out into the world again?Stephanie:Mm-hmm (affirmative).Zak:That's essentially what I mean by convergent experience. From a mental health support perspective, it's really about developing an adjuvant experience. X and Y together at last to create better support for people than the individual parts.Stephanie:Got it. I love that. That's a very good example and description, and I feel like I learned a new word. This is a win all around.Zak:Hey, it's my pleasure.Stephanie:All right. We have about 10 minutes left. I want to shift over to the lightening round. The lightening round is brought to you by our friends at Salesforce commerce cloud. This is where I'm going to ask you a question, and you have one minute or less to answer. Do you think you're ready, Zak?Zak:Yes.Stephanie:All right. What's up next on your Netflix view or Hulu or whatever you use?Zak:I'm excited about watching The Crown. It's been on my list for ages, and we're starting to get through our queue. Stephanie:A lot of people have said that, so I'm guessing you're going to enjoy it. All right. What one thing do you not understand today that you wish you did?Zak:I wish I spoke Japanese.Stephanie:That's a good one. I love Japan. It's my favorite.Zak:I love Japan too. For me, the process of learning a new language is already daunting for me. I'm not a polyglot. I don't learn other languages easily. At some point, I should just take the plunge and just start. That's my goal, learning Japanese.Stephanie:That's awesome. Sounds like a good goal. If you were to have a podcast, what would it be about and who would your first guest be?Zak:My podcast would be about getting to the very core of people's experiences, like what's their truth. Whether they know it or not, hopefully we can uncover that truth. What is it that they're all about? My first guest would likely be one of my favorite people on the planet, Dr. Adam Gazzaley, who is an advisor for Pym and a scientist and a profoundly interesting person that I'd love to get to the bottom of finding his truth.Stephanie:This sounds like a good show. I think this needs to happen. What's the nicest thing someone's ever done for you?Zak:Well, I'm a big fan of my son, Mickey.Stephanie:That's good.Zak:Having my wife, Olivia, her having carried Mickey for nearly a year.Stephanie:That's sweet.Zak:That was extremely thoughtful and considerate of her.Stephanie:That was very sweet. I like that. All right. Well, I have two more. What's up next on your reading list?Zak:There's a bunch of things, but the main one is Jim Simons' biography.Stephanie:Cool. All right. Then the last one, what one thing will have the biggest impact on ecommerce in the next year?Zak:The one thing that will have the biggest impact on ecommerce in the next year would be, I think, oh man. That's a really good question. I think it very much relates to more seamless experiences, frictionless experiences. Even though it is quick and can be considered convenient, it could be so much more convenient. I think the disrupters that are establishing quick checkouts, embedded checkouts, connecting wallets to checkout experiences, things like that, that's going to be a game changer, because people who have an edge there are going to really be able to see the difference in their bottom line. I know that's a very tactical consideration.Stephanie:That's a good answer.Zak:I think that's really one of the game changers.Stephanie:Yeah. You'll have to check out our interview with the CEO of Fast. It was very fast, and a good interview and definitely opened up my eyes to what a frictionless ecommerce world could look like.Zak:I think Fast is great.Stephanie:Yeah. All right, Zak. Thanks so much for coming on here and sharing your story and being vulnerable. Where can people find out more about you and Pym?Zak:Well, you can find out more about me through tuning into this podcast and other advocacy work I do specifically. I'll push people to advocacy. I work with organizations called Bring Change to Mind, United for Global Mental Health, Inseparable, and then Project Healthy Minds. Those are the four mental health organizations I work with. You can find out more about me through the work that I do with those organizations, and then you can find out more about Pym at youcanpym.com. Y-O-U-C-A-N-P-Y-M dot com.Stephanie:Amazing. I will be checking it out after this. Thanks so much. It was really a pleasure to have you on and love to have you back in the future when your app is out.Zak:Awesome, Stephanie. Such a pleasure.

WBZ's Jordan Rich talks with Matt Robinson of matts-meals.com about celebrating Hanukkah with a little sweetness.

As a commercial photographer and product stylist, Shay’s clients span the globe (brands like Sugarfina, Pure Fiji, Truffle bags and Simplified Planner to name a few). But she is most well known for inadvertently kickstarting the "styled stock" industry with the creation of the SC Stockshop in 2013 which supplied beautiful stock imagery tailored specifically to female business owners. Today, powerhouse female entrepreneurs like Marie Forleo, Jenna Kutcher and thousands of others know and love her Social Squares Membership where she puts her years of work as a commercial stylist and photographer into a monthly subscription that supplies elevated brand imagery + visual marketing education for female-owned online brands. Thinking about starting a product or service: reach out to friends, family, connections and loose connections to get feedback. Because feedback is everything! I talk to Shay about her journey of starting a company, a membership and maintaining a fabulous work-life balance. She saw an opportunity to help small businesses and she seized it!We talk about these wonderful concepts to help your business:customers/clients have pain points and your company can help alleviate themmembership churnputting in as much effort on retaining as attaining new customersunderstand the customer journey - how your membership product will get them where they want and need to be, essentially paint a picture of how your company will help them reach their goalshow work can "swell" to fill the time and avoid that by working smarter and more efficientachieving flexibility with work time and maintaining a healthy personal life, while still running a successful and demanding businessthe 16 hour work weekhow to 80/20 your businessfind your nichealways find creative ways to stay connected to your customer, especially in the memberships businesssocial media is "renting" but newsletters are "owning"always ask yourself "does this scale?"A favorite quote from the episode "some great ideas are born out of the limitations that you have in your business."Links: Weekly Instagram Action Plan + 10 free SS images How to Double Your Income By Working Less (80/20 Guide) Social Squares Styled Stock Membership: www.socialsquares.com @socialsquares on Instagram // @shaycochrane on Instagram

Raising capital is an essential part of a founder’s journey, and until recently this process has been rife with barriers due to legal restrictions since the Securities Act of 1933. Enter today’s guest, Howard Marks, who has been working to democratize the capital raising space in his capacity as CEO and founder of StartEngine. Howard’s firm helps startups raise capital more easily by utilizing recent Reg D, Reg Crowdfunding, and Reg A Plus legislation, thereby bringing them closer to achieving their dreams. We kick off our chat with Howard hearing about his fundamental mission to help all entrepreneurs succeed and the amazing updates at StartEngine since the last time he came on the show, such as how they have raised over 150 million dollars so far! He talks about the extremely low price point StartEngine sets funding barrier at, before sharing the three things that any company seeking funding should be doing. We get into some of the legalities around capital raising in the history of the US, and Howard reiterates how recent lifts on restrictions is allowing StartEngine to remove the barriers to deal flow for angels. He shares some of the ways he vets new companies looking to raise capital and also talks about common mistakes entrepreneurs make during this process. Our conversation digs a little deeper into Howard’s philosophy of setting an ‘impossibly’ high goal for his company, and he explains how it all fits into the foundational ideas of the American Dream. Our chat winds down with some of Howards most favorite books, useful tools, and an argument for why Tesla is such an inspiring company. Make sure not to miss this great conversation about new developments in the capital raising space! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast![00:58] The mission at StartEngine and updates on its progress.[03:17] Allowing investors to invest in companies earlier; LiquidPiston’s success story. [05:58] The extremely low bar StartEngine sets funding rounds at.[06:20] The catch: not all companies can drive the excitement that LiquidPiston did.[06:37] Three things any company looking to raise money should do.[08:39] Removing barriers to deal flow (the name of the game in the VC world). [10:05] How regulations to investing implemented in the 1920s were lifted somewhat in 2012.[12:00] The five-week process that companies need to undergo to work with StartEngine. [13:56] How StartEngine vets the value of companies seeking funding.[15:33] Legal red tape to raising money publicly or privately since 1933.[17:09] Newer, more open regulations since 2016 that StartEngine works within.[20:14] Whether funding according to Regulation C could get you sued or not.[23:32] Mistakes many young entrepreneurs make raising capital around work and execution.[25:58] Capital raising, the American Dream, and why StartEngine’s mission is so big.[28:40] The value of having an unattainable vision for reaching further.[30:40] Why the leadership and software at StartEngine outdo their competitors.[31:26] Shattered dreams, raising wrong, and the story of Howard’s work with Sugarfina.[36:35] Where investors can go to buy a business or merge with a company.[40:20] Howard’s favorite book, business tool, and company. Resources From The Interview: Howard Marks on LinkedIn Howard Marks’ Blog Activision StartEngine LiquidPiston Lyft Uber Tesla Apple Pay Marc Andreessen Sequoia Charles Schwab Kickstarter Knightscope Clickflow Ford Motors Microsoft Josh Resnick Sugarfina Rosie O’Neill Flippa FE International   Zero To One Lean Startup Innovator's Dilemma   Slack Google Docs WordPerfect Elon Musk Oaktree Capital Howard Marks of Oaktree Must read book: Sapiens, The Fountainhead, Business of Platforms   Leave Some Feedback:   What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed   Connect with Eric Siu:    Growth Everywhere Single Grain Eric Siu on Twitter    

Seven years ago, Josh Zad opened Alfred Coffee, a stylish cafe nestled among the luxury boutiques in the Melrose Place neighborhood of West Hollywood. Conceived with the intention of creating a comfortable space and “Instagrammable” moments for its customers, the store quickly became a popular destination among social and celebrity influencers. Alfred has since established itself as a prime example of how to marry brick-and-mortar retail with a memorable digital presence, having grown to 16 locations across the U.S. and Japan. In an interview included in this episode, Zad explained that Alfred’s success and appeal is derived from its foundation as “a creative platform” focused on customer experience, rather than as a coffee brand. “It’s about the lifestyle,” he said. “We have a broader message that goes in many different directions. The personality is there, and we try to reflect that on social media. It’s not about ‘Is this the perfect latte art, yes or no?’” Today, Zad is aiming to replicate Alfred’s success with Calidad Beer, a brand of Mexican-style lagers that, like his coffee company, lives at the intersection of design, storytelling and consumer experience. As part of our conversation, Zad spoke about how, despite no formal training in coffee or branding, he’s built one of the most beloved coffee chains in Southern California, why he believes that the company isn’t “doing anything groundbreaking,” the secret to Alfred’s “customer-first” focus and how he defines success for Calidad. Show notes:  2:46: Interview: Josh Zad, Founder, Alfred Coffee/Calidad Beer -- Zad met with Taste Radio editor Ray Latif at Alfred headquarters in West Hollywood and kicked off their conversation with a brief chat about Alfred’s unusual “ban” on NBA star Kawhi Leonard, Alfred’s average customer and how he became an expert in delivering unique consumer experiences. Zad also spoke about why the company invests heavily in culture, why being nimble is key to being consistently better than its competitors and why he views himself as Alfred’s “creative director” and not its CEO. Later, he discussed why he wants Alfred to be synonymous with L.A., why he’s not interested in launching a cannabis brand, how he views Calidad as a direct offshoot of Alfred and why he wants the can’s color to be the most eye-catching element of its design. Zad also spoke about key mentors in his career and what he likes most about being a boss. Brands in this episode: Alfred Coffee, Oatly, Blue Bottle, Stumptown, Starbucks, Sugarfina, Vybes, Calidad Beer, Corona, Pacifico Beer

EP204 - 2020 Annual Predictions 2019 Recap - Predictions made on episode 159 Scot At least 5k more store closures in 2019. Yes.  9,300 US store closures per Coresight. Amazon – Prof Galloway is big on Amazon having to create a AWS spinoff and has moderated that to tracking stock. I’m going to predict Amazon doesn’t do either of those things. But this WILL be the year they break ads out. Yes. Galloway was wrong. eBay/Alibaba – I think this is the year when they both need to do something big and the stars are aligning for a combination there. Nope.  Shopify gets acquired by one of the big ad-based companies (facebook/google most likely) Nope. Walmart stumbles in e-commerce. Nope Score 2/5 Jason Amazon store count exceeds 1000 stores Nope.  571 Amazon Stores 22 Book 15 4-Star 8 Pop-ups 25 Go 2 liquor 499 Whole Foods Walmart buys a last mile firm Nope Another big  bankruptcy (going to be a tougher than expected year, JCP, category killers Office, BBBY, Neiman). Yep (Payless ShoeSource, Destination Maternity Shopko,Forever 21, ShopKo, Gymboree, Things Remembered, Charlotte Russe, Diesel, Z Gallerie, Charming Charlie, Barneys, Sugarfina, etc ...) Mobile commerce revenue passes Desktop – Aided by PWA’s, and payment API’s we see mobile gap narrow. Nope.  60/35/5 Desktop/Mobile/Tablet Nov-Dec via Adobe. Fads (Voice Commerce, Customer facing AI, SocialCommerce, VR BlockChain). Yes BONUS: Amazon breaks out prime revenue (No) Score 2/5 An epic fail for Jason & Scot! It turns out the future is difficult to see (and our case the timing is also tough). 2020 Predictions Scot Shopify wilts a bit - new competition comes out with different angles (marketcap stays static) Fedex does something drastic - buy eBay? Merge with Alibaba? The year of returns - “happy returns” - a startup raises $100M+ in space. Mallageddon continues At least another 8k stores Google gets aggressive in ecommerce 10% traffic to ‘shopping actions’ buy ebay/fedex Jason Walmart - growth slows due to completion of grocery build out. Marc Lore leaves Walmart. Amazon - Opens affordable grocery concept. Digital grocery wars heat up. Owned brands continue to grow. 5% of retail in 2019, could be 8-10% in 2020 (as measured by IRI, for CPG private label). Installment Payments heat up - At least one company is acquired (Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, QuadPay, Sizzle) Digital in-store heats up, QR codes make a comeback Bonus:  Cashier-less stores (Amazon Go), blockchain, 5G, big data, and personalization won’t have a significant impact on retail. No DNVB will break out. No major retail anti-trust actions in US. Brick & Mortar Marketplaces won’t take off (Showfields, Neighborhood Goods, B8ta). Shopify won’t compete with Amazon.   Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 204 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Thursday, January 2nd, 2020. Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. http://jasonandscot.com Google Automated Transcription of the show Transcript Jason: [0:24] Welcome to the Jason and Scott show this is episode at 204 being recorded on Thursday January 2nd 2020 I'm your host Jason retailgeek Goldberg and as usual I'm here with your co-host Scott Wingo. Scot: [0:40] Hey Jason and welcome back Jason Scott show listeners will Jason happy New Year happy new decade hope you had a really good last decade and I hope you had a good holiday. Jason: [0:53] I did Happy New Year to you. I'm with you on that new decade but they're you know there's some controversy about whether it is a new decade or not. Scot: [1:01] Yeah I don't believe that it's a it's a 10 plus one problem we'll just to sweep sweep past. Jason: [1:07] Yeah it's the twenties as far as I'm concerned so. Yes but it has already happened I nailed our intro despite the fact that we typed 2019 in the show notes. Scot: [1:22] Azle Easter I got them there for you you found it. Jason: [1:25] Yeah I was I felt I felt special about myself that I was able to fix that on the Fly. Scot: [1:32] Who said the most important question is have you been able to see the new Star Wars movie. Jason: [1:36] Oh my God Scott I've been thinking about you nonstop because yes I got to see the new Star Wars movie and obviously we'll will be spoiler-free but I I was totally happy with it and enjoyed it. Scot: [1:48] Yeah yeah me too weird thing happen to me where I've gotten to where I kind of like the Mandalorian almost better than the movies so I don't know. Jason: [1:57] So here's why I've been thinking about you nonstop my 4 year old is now both feet in on Star Wars everything. Scot: [2:06] Good quality parenting right there. Jason: [2:08] So we wouldn't want some of the movies there's a ton of like kid-friendly Star Wars content you probably knew all about this but there's like the Lego movies and cartoons and all this different stuff, and like for Hanukkah he got a lightsaber which he has not been separated from since and. Scot: [2:27] Nice. Jason: [2:27] We got a bunch of Star Wars books including I got him, like a graphic novel version of episodes for 5 and 6 and so now every night as part of our bedtime ritual he's his down with me and we we you know read us a segment from the book. Scot: [2:46] Give us your Darth Vader voice. Jason: [2:48] Yeah I'm not doing any voices on the podcast sorry. Scot: [2:53] Baby geek I am your father. Jason: [2:55] Exactly I have said that exact phrase tan. The what's super funny is my wife and I like you have enjoyed Mandalorian and we were watching it one night and Stephen King in like you should have been asleep and it came in and saw I like. 30 seconds of Mandalorian which we have not let him watch Mandalorian but Steven is totally 100% fixated on Mandalorian. So he's already convinced that mandalorians are way better than Jedis. Like the only character he likes from all of the previous Star Wars work is now Boba Fett and he like he brings them up and every contact and we're like. You seen 32nd. Scot: [3:44] Team Honda. Jason: [3:47] Anything he's like he's like four and he's asking like. Like when he sees Yoda in like Clone Wars he's asking like how is he only a baby in Mandalorian. Scot: [3:59] You have time like it's really confusing. Jason: [4:05] Star Wars is super confusing to explain to a four year old white guy because you start with the premise that like the bad guys have red lightsabers in the good guys have other colors and then like, it's only Don's I knew that all the bad guys used to be good guys and then become good guys again and so I. It's super like that Santa can that it yeah yeah it's a very convoluted but suffice it to say there's a bunch of Mandalorian and baby Yoda posters up in his room and he's like we're leaving in a Mandalorian World which just makes me think of you. Scot: [4:37] Regal Walden toys are coming out so that it's going to be exciting in the next couple of weeks are all the they held them because they didn't want to spoil some of the plot elements of Mandalorian soon there's a big wave of toys coming so it's good time. Jason: [4:50] I know and in fact a bunch of entrepreneurial people because they did not release baby Yoda toys during the show because they were trying to prove your point keep him Secret. So everybody and their brother started making baby Yoda toys and like there's been like you know a huge intellectual property Crackdown and there's like you know hundreds of people from Etsy that have been. Don the cease-and-desist orders over that. Scot: [5:17] Speaking of toys I saw on Twitter that you were going to try to hit one of the new Toys R Us did you make it to him. Jason: [5:24] I did I am wearing a button right now that says I don't want to grow up I'm a Toys R Us kid. Because I went to the Houston store a few days after it open so there's, Tyreke and for our listeners like Toys R Us went bankrupt or done at super sad huge disruption in the toy industry, a company bought the the intellectual property of Toys R Us and they did a partnership with beta who's been on the show a couple times, the open initially to Toys R Us stores so there's one in New Jersey and there's one in Houston Texas. So I got to go to the Houston Texas one and it was fun it was fun to see the brand, back alive and reimagined then it was a you know it's very different than a Toys R Us a traditional Toys R Us store because these are. Kind of 20,000 square foot Mall base toy stores versus. 80000 square foot big box toy stores but it was a fun immersive retail environment with a bunch of toys and, this mall which is a a mall Scott like a week before Christmas felt like a ghost town to me like it was. Tragically empty but I would argue the Toys R Us with the second busiest store in the in the whole mall and. [6:49] Behind Apple you're exactly right side note people are only in the Apple store to get tech support but still. But this one was really busy and people like had made a special trip just to go in like the brand is so strong so it looks like these first two stores are doing pretty well and I know there's a plan to open more so kudos to them for saving the brand and beta for doing a pretty good toy execution. Scot: [7:16] Nice the so thanks for the trip report this is our annual recap and he's always run long so I think we should just jump right on into it so being the first show of the decade and the year it is our custom I guess we've done this for fact, to do an annual prediction and then Square ourselves so way back in episode 159 we had our predictions, or 2019 so I think what we'll do is score each other to start out with and then we'll put out our predictions so why don't you go to my last year predictions. Jason: [7:58] And before you jump and let me just say I despise this show I've had red leading up to the show in the reason is is I've never done very well that however will I have done I've gotten progressively worse every year and last year while I did quite poorly you did stupendous wave and so, it's like I've dreaded even seen what my predictions were last year and hearing about them so I'm just going to rip the Band-Aid off and we'll get through the show but your first prediction for for 2019 was that at least 5K more stores would close in 2019 and let's get this out of the way you blew away that prediction coresite which is the company we most often use for kind of tracking Us store closures had like 9300 stores closing this year IHL did a study in the world even more store closures than that in their in their study Dope by any measure way more than 5,000 stores closed and you know in hindsight I should have let you get away with that prediction because that's why, it was too easy. Scot: [9:12] Well no I don't know if there's a lot of people saying but that was kind of going to be the worst. Jason: [9:19] That no so if you had said there is going to be worse than last year that would have been a slightly more predict like. Tempstar 5000 was less than last year or this year but yeah I agree, most people thought there be fewer closures this year than last year in that bike by depending on how you count did not prove to be the case that much more controversial thing on the whole store closures is it more open and closed if you go by the course I track her a lot more closed than open but if you go by other studies, that are the feel more comprehensive like they're actually were more swords that open then close so. Scot: [9:58] Yeah and I know the size Matters right to some of these are mattress stores which are pretty big. Jason: [10:04] And I whoop all a lot of the people that say way more stores open then close are also counting like restaurants and stores for example and the end restaurants have a lot of charm and so, a lot of controversy but bottom line you started out of the gate strong you're one for one and. Your second prediction, you just you just jumped right into the gutter because your second prediction was that Professor Scott Galloway would basically be wrong. Which I like as a general principle but more specifically what you're talking about is the, an inner 9 people the climate a year ago he had just published a book about the the for one of which was Amazon so he was he was publicly speaking about Amazon a ton and he you know was really beating a drum around having to split up Amazon and they're potentially Amazon would voluntarily spin off some of their businesses because they're so lucrative and so you know the talk to usually about 8 if you ask until your prediction was kind of to go negative and say you always wrong and Amazon isn't going to be split up and isn't going to voluntarily split up in any parts of their business and, you were certainly correct none of those things happens. Scot: [11:28] What have I learned from this anti Galloway bet is that he throws out so many things he gets one right and then looks like a genius show his we work one with hit. The bus was other ones didn't put the he's ridden the we work one for a good six months. Jason: [11:43] Yep yeah I feel like he the first one that hit for him that really like you know he made a lot of hay en was predicting Whole Foods would be acquired by Amazon and then yeah he was instrumental in that kind of picking the, he was an early picker of the we were demise the pressure point he also predicted Amazon would acquire a bunch of other people besides Whole Foods that they didn't in my favorite prediction is about 3 years ago he said that Amazon had peaked in that you should short the stock. Scot: [12:14] I would not have been good. Jason: [12:16] Side note yeah that would turned out not to be good investment advice. So yeah for your point like anyone in this predictions face like the whole key is to throw a bunch out and just remind people of the ones you got right and not bring up all the ones you got wrong. But you're doing great you're two for two yeah so third prediction that. Either or eBay and Alibaba would need to do something big in 2019, and so you use you propose that potentially they might do some sort of joint venture or some sort of combination. And I have to say he's got as far as I'm aware that did not happen. Scot: [13:03] Yeah but itself StubHub when you said that's pretty big. Jason: [13:09] No not relative to their socks. Scot: [13:11] It was Lucy 4 billion of 30 billion market cap that's more than materiality. Jason: [13:23] Again I'm dreading my own predictions so I'm grading you very very strictly enough so I'm going to say you're two for three right now. Scot: [13:35] Another thing just point out is the eBay CEO just got up and left one day if that was kind of surprised I don't know if we count that as something big happening or not there's this line with the Borden peace out. Jason: [13:49] Yeah need to do something big. Scot: [13:50] That's kind of a shot. Jason: [13:52] Sell the property will parts of your company and then watch the Executive Suite I don't think that was the spirit of I think you were more proposing they would do something that would help them reacquired growth. Scot: [14:05] Yeah but another thing I didn't anticipate us this anti-china thing that we have going on here right now so the tariffs were one thing but there's just. A lot of anti-china going on right now that I think is going to make this murderer and possible I don't think the US government would let app. Jason: [14:24] Yeah I think there's there are some number of entanglements there that that would be challenges there aren't there were some little Partnerships there some interesting things we like, well I guess it's more JD and the Walmart in the US but. Back on track your two for three and your fourth prediction was that Shopify gets Acquired and you said potentially by one of the big add bass companies like Facebook or Google +, once again to my knowledge that did not happen are you agree or do you have a argument there as well. Scot: [15:03] I agree and you know what's really amazing is if you look at kind of your your Shopify when I made this production was their stock is like at 1:44 and they were attending. Nick on all the stuff like 3x so weather like a 1012 blade on a company now they're $47 company they're pretty much on acquirable I think at that price and then the valuation multiple is extremely lucky so if you look at all the different soccer the service companies yet uses range of like 8 to 10 x there's something like 15 to 20 x is just crazy, good as those guys they essentially don't they will be at choir and not not a choir. Jason: [15:53] Totally agree there they're killing it both in terms of their their financial success and valuations but also their they're just winning in the marketplace and they're like you have continuing to capture more Greyhound away from the Enterprise guys and they're doing a bunch of interesting things so we'll talk more about them in the future I'm sure but yeah they're a bunch of people that would like to acquire them but for your point like there is not that's not really economically viable at this point and then number 5, Walmart stumbles in e-commerce and I took that to mean. That they're the rate of e-commerce growth would slow over 2018 which was pretty solid gross at like 40%. And they actually were exactly at 40% again in 2020 so there, they're growing very quickly they're growing faster than Amazon certainly much faster than the, the market overall and their growth rate in 2020 or 2019 was basically the same as 2018 so like by that measure I'm not giving them a stumble in 2019 but do you you agree or was you think it was some other dimension they stumbled in. Scot: [17:15] Agree I probably underestimated how long they had to kind of Wind by converting grocery over but I think this year probably will give you the. Jason: [17:29] I feel like that's a common theme in all of our predictions ynm that I've noticed both you and I are sort of afraid to double down and be like wrong one year and then say say it again the next year but many of our predictions come true a year after we predicted. Scot: [17:43] Lyrics the Alexa are pause airpods I did like 2 years and then it came up here I didn't God darn it. Jason: [17:49] Exactly which is frustrating yes so being super brutal you ended up 245 which is way off your your historic average. Scot: [18:02] Yeah I usually bat 500 but it wasn't wasn't there this year I mean on the stuff I feel like e-commerce slow down a little bit. Jason: [18:13] Oh no I for sure feel like it has and I do think. Scot: [18:16] But the pace of innovation is really slowing which is makes up makes it harder to throw out big predictions. Jason: [18:21] Yeah I also feel like it is this point like it's the timing of many things is tougher to predict than the actual events themselves and the Horizon is now longer than a year for your point so that's that's that another challenge with this whole predictions thing but I'm not remotely confident that I didn't any better so so with no further Ado let's let's see how I did. Scot: [18:51] Yes yes so your prediction so let's jump into this the first one is you were very giddy you probably had just visited three or four of the Amazon stores and you said look I am sure this can be over a thousand Amazon physical stores by the end of the year so I think. Whole Foods helps a lot here in this is there were there were a bunch of Articles out there that Amazon was going to because Wall Street Journal that they're going to have, thousands of Stories the right now we're sitting in about five to six hundred so you got Whole Foods 500 Whole Foods there's some pop upstairs for Stars book stores throw all that together you get sky like 555 75 so that's a pretty big Miss 57% is f on any grading scale so sorry I did not get that. Jason: [19:53] Yeah no I'll be honest I thought, perhaps Amazon go with scale and much more you were generous that they were actually a lot more pop-up stores the last year they closed most of the pop-up store so it's possible there's fewer Stars this year than they were last year of you if you included those so yeah I wildly miss that in the only like slightly interesting thing in that in that whole thing is I feel like the one concept that has scales slightly More Than People realizes the 4-star store so there now 15 for Star stores which is like coming up on on you know the number of bookstore so pretty soon we might have more, more 4-star stores that we have book stores but nowhere close to a thousand I was wildly wrong. Scot: [20:38] What are the clothes the popups cuz I've kept an eye on them in our malls and they're pretty popular MMOs price at the. Jason: [20:46] Yeah yeah well you know for a while they had a ton of them in Whole Food stores, and yeah I feel like they opened a lot of them in places where they could get real estate rather than in places where. Where there was a like strategic audience need a few pop-up stores their main are some kind of interesting Concepts so that yeah I don't I don't know. Scot: [21:12] So that's 0 4 5 4 for those homegamers keeping track of the score then your second one and this was one where I think the timing probably is going to be what this was on the heels of Target buying ships and here we are a year later that's gone really well you have Target, Ecommerce accelerated they're constantly talking about how should you store is doing well and all those initiatives that if they can anchor on ship, so your prediction was that in 2019 Walmart would buy a last-mile firm and that did not happen I think the big idea and last-mile will there be a couple one was going to just kind of Associates kind of on their way home free stuff and then the second one is this whole body camera thing where they're going to pop Associates right in your house to deliver stuff I don't think that is really caught on either. Jason: [22:10] Yeah I know II do I agree I think they I made that prediction cuz I felt like, that honey how stuff is really growing for them and they would need more Last Mile capacity and I still think that it is true, I didn't foresee that last year but you know like as whole food as a FedEx has kind of gone push the last run away from Amazon that the company they're running to is Walmart and so we we've seen some like bigger strategic Partnerships between Walmart and FedEx and now that you know they're starting to be some some economic weakness at FedEx, I do not want to talk about this year's predictions but that you could almost imagine at one point that that could be an acquisition or some kind of deeper strategic partnership but nevertheless did not happen last year. Scot: [23:03] So that says 045 stole your third one and I think you made a comment last year that you need to be less specific to this one's kind of interesting. And they said there could be another big bankruptcy but then you said such as JCPenney one of the office guys Bed Bath Beyond need and Marcus so you kind of had an ore in there or are you know we could have took her to this again. Being generous since we're sitting here at over to there were a lot of bankruptcies so we had the seat jabri we had Forever 21. What's rue21 was that a result 2018. Jason: [23:49] That might have been 18 or not sure. Scot: [23:51] One of the maternity stores Payless shoes and we'll see we had there was one of the mattress stores. So there were there were some pretty high-profile bankruptcies. Jason: [24:07] I'm taking the win but in hindsight like that was a lame prediction like of course somebody's going to go bankrupt every year so if you're not specific at Tulane prediction and if you are specific the names I mentioned. I still am taking the win and I would point out like the one that gets talked about the most which is actually one of the smaller ones is Barney's was like the, start a story brand that went bankrupt and I know the one that almost doesn't get talked about but was most crushing and near and dear to your heart is sugarfina. Scot: [24:37] Yeah. Steer. Okay so your fourth prediction. Jason: [24:44] Wait wait let's recap the score I'm now one of the three. Infinitely improved over over the previous two. Scot: [24:50] Yeah yeah you're all on at are two more to make up some some room here so your fourth prediction was that mobile Commerce Revenue would pass desktop and lessors of the show know you are a big fan of pwa which is not a rap band it's some kind of a technology for mobile stuff and also the new payment apis and some of the other stuff you thought we're going to close the mobile, I'll defer to you since you're the guru on this didn't did you. Jason: [25:21] Yeah did we mention that that e-commerce is slowing down a lot, none of those things happened at near the scale that I thought they would end so for sure no mobile Revenue did not pass desktop revenue and I I thought I could like save face and say well that didn't happen it did happen on the big shopping days bright like so you know you could kind of make try to make an argument that oh I totally happened on December Monday or things like that but the reality is even over the holiday. If you'll get November through December, 60% of all revenue happened on desktop 35% of Revenue on mobile and 5% on tablet so bottom line I wasn't even close. Sad. Scot: [26:12] Yep sorry dude so let's see that gives us one out of four, all right last chance on number 5 on this one, Scot of one of your anti predictions you said following things are going to be fads and not take off voice Commerce AI That's customer-facing social commerce virtual reality and boxing. Jason: [26:38] Yeah and again not a very awesome prediction but I'm going to take the win on that and say that those things are all we're all basically feds at least in 2019, the one that feels like it's trying to get some traction and some some aspects of social commerce but but I would still argue they weren't like. Meaningful in 2019. Scot: [27:02] If I give you that one. Jason: [27:03] Yeah I'm desperate for I'm desperate for a win that would give me the 22052 at least IU. Scot: [27:08] Yeah yeah and then you threw out because you're you're Jason you just couldn't stop at 5 got a Bonus and you said Amazon is going to breakout Prime Revenue you're really specific I had to go back and listen. Cuz I had a feeling you're kind of get a little slippery on it so Amazon has not broken out that's that's a no. Jason: [27:31] Yeah what really happened is I misspoke what I meant to say is that callonwood breakout primary. For Amazon and I yeah I said it wrong. Scot: [27:43] Yeah but since I was a bonus will you know we won't we won't count it so it's practically a tie this year so which is to me that's a loss cuz over the over the The Arc typically beat me by three or four answers. Jason: [27:59] And so it would be a win for me but since you basically came down to my level it doesn't I don't think it feels good for either of us but at least. Scot: [28:06] What are you get better. Jason: [28:07] At least we've established our credibility now so I'm sure it was on the edge of their seats to hear our wise predictions for next year now that we've shown how I'm nipotent we are. Scot: [28:17] We're going to rebound to I can feel it go do you want to join to do yours first. Jason: [28:22] No I want to hear you're so I can potentially use them. Scot: [28:27] Yep so here's my five predictions so I mentioned earlier that Shopify is kind of gone up 3x in a year that just feels you know, very nose bleeding to me and there's a lot of new competition coming out so I think whenever you have a value creation event like that where they've essentially created 45 billion dollars out of town are there could be a lot of money chasing Shopify, I don't know what their weaknesses but every company always has one so it's going to be interesting to see, what comes after them what angles they come after and all that good stuff so that's that's my prediction is that they're going to wilt a bit and you know I'll put a. [29:14] I need to put something more specific there I'll say they did kind of stay at this market cap or go down 10% somewhere between kind of here in temperature I don't think there's going to be another kind of like huge run up type your and it's going to be largely your folks waking up to say wait there is competition out there for this business model. But you don't think that doesn't get talked about this to turn just has to be like through the roof right so just on a unit turn to have to just be turning tons of customers and now in a cohort, it probably is its revenue for the cohort pipe the GMB for the cohort crime makes up and then that's what drives the revenue, overtime it just feels like there's going to be sup Rider light shown on part of their business model that isn't, this kind of perfect kind of price for protection company. Jason: [30:09] No I would agree with that I do think that maybe the one thing that that mitigates that a little bit is they are starting to successfully go upmarket a bit and get like some slightly more. Stables lower turn customers with higher gym be so so maybe that balance is out in the long run. Scot: [30:29] Yeah it's like a million at the base of the pyramid though and it takes a lot at the top of the pyramid. Jason: [30:35] It just takes one Kylie Jenner. Scot: [30:37] That last. That's my first prediction my second one and another prediction we would kind of I can't remember which was did that for a long time is part of me just like the earpods I was saying, Amazon will get into delivery that is, that would be a double a man because it sucks such an obvious once and for the longest time FedEx UPS said no no no there are partner or not our competitor the bloom is totally off that one right now where was like okay this is bad in fact you mentioned earlier FedEx is like getting hammered over this and so did Amazon kind of dug the knife in further where they won't even let seller fulfilled Prime sellers use FedEx because they say the service level isn't good enough. Jason: [31:32] Yeah you talk about throwing some holiday shade. Scot: [31:34] Ouch ouch so as a result of FedEx is under a lot of pressure right now and I think it's going to cause some kind of interesting thing to happen you know you got eBay out there kind of rudderless right now you could see FedEx eBay you could see you mention Walmart I think there's going to be some interesting, kind of marriage that happens with FedEx in and it's can be driven from the world of e-commerce. Jason: [32:04] Get I like that one. Scot: [32:06] Predictions for 3 this is not my forte but there's just a lot of Buzz around returns so there's several startups you could probably write them better than I can save Mall. BCS contact me about this which means it must be like just kind of, yeah they're all trying to solve returns problems and there's all kinds of clever ways of doing this of no Consolidated return centers different ways of managing the supply chain that kind of thing so I'm going to say 2020 will be the year where you know they're just probably be some kind of a winner that emerges from that and they'll be kind of like ShopRunner has try to do and not to successfully the offer a prime and a network of retailers that form an alternative prime one of these startups will be successful and I guess I'll Define it as. Raising over a hundred million something like that something that's like pretty pretty. Obvious that their leader they'll be pretty successful in in kind of taking a run at offering an on Amazon, multi retailer multi-brand approached returns. Jason: [33:25] So that's funny I wrote a similar prediction I didn't end up using it because I thought it was two wonky but I totally agree with the sentiment it does like I think it's returns it become a huge acute problem and so you know we're seeing lots of new investments in the hole reverse Logistics base to try to solve it so it that that seems reasonable although somebody raising a hundred million dollars is not peanuts so the so I like your. You're taking a stance. Scot: [33:58] That's my third and fourth one is a keeping with my mall again which has been a winner for for two years in a row I'm going to say you know what you call 9000 store closures in 2019 it's a good start. So I think we're going to have many more store closures I'm going to say at least eight thousand so continuing to keep, about the same as last year if not more I think we are going to see, I just feels like we're still over stored in a lot of different categories like drug stores that kind of stuff so I put that one out there. [34:34] And then this one this is one of these I've made a long time and I'm always wrong but I've some reason I'm back to it this year I just finally believe Google has is waking up to the Amazon Fred and and starting ticket much more seriously now they're there, terrible branding job at it but I think execution wise there is something there they have this Marketplace which is essentially called shopping Google shopping. Actions and you know the sink, they're getting pretty serious about it and I think this year they're going to get really really serious about it so what's that mean so I think I think. Overall I think I could see them actually in the hunt to buy an eBay or FedEx or something like that that could be interesting and then you know another one is the shopping actions is it's always just been this kind of on the edge like well a little Beyond 2% of Android latest Android lollipop popsicle Twix and yes it is a being like percent of a percent of a percent and not Material so so I'm thinking they get pretty serious about it meaning it's going to get a lot of exposure I'm on not only just some fraction of Android but across all Google properties. Jason: [35:59] So I like it how like what were you cancel BC to know that that that happened like you expect them to be like I'd top 100 retailer like what would what's the. Scot: [36:11] I think yeah I think 10% of shopping traffic going through it would be material so I would come start there. Jason: [36:20] Oh wow yeah that's quite mature okay. Scot: [36:22] And I would look at like search marketing as someone like the referee on this search marketing. Was that search engine land or one of those. Jason: [36:31] Ya SE land.com. At least to get the ball rolling you know the last month they announced Bill ready who is that executive PayPal is the new, like VP of Commerce a Google so they like they haven't a new person to sort of weed that initiative so that maybe bodes well for your prediction. Scot: [36:53] Yeah I worry about it because these payments guys want you when you've been in the payments world everything looks like a nail so so I worry we're going to get Google pay 8.0 embossing. Jason: [37:07] So yeah supposedly and I I don't know but I think he's got some non-competes and supposably like is being hired explicitly not to get involved in pain. Scot: [37:17] I did not know that. Jason: [37:19] So maybe that will benefit you. Scot: [37:23] Let's we can only hope. Jason: [37:24] Yes yes I like it though. Scot: [37:27] All right those are my five what are your five. Jason: [37:29] Awesome duck so my first one is I'm just going to take yours from last year and protect them for this year. Thinking of you just missed the timing and given all the ones that that have happened the past that's my new strategy so last year you predicted it Walmart, would would have a hiccup in 2019 so I'm going to say in 2020 is the year that the Walmart rate of growth slows down and I don't, actually mean that that, is a distressing anyway I just think sometime this year they're going to finish rolling out online grocery pick-up to all of their stores and they're going to have to comp against, stores that were opened last year where has for the last few years they've had this benefit of opening a bunch of stores and going from zero to some, some big number of digital grocery so I think it's going to be much tougher to maintain that 40% growth rate so I expect that growth rate to go down, which is enough kind of natural and then I'll throw out a wacky one and say I also actually think that this might be the year that Mark Laurie exits from Walmart. [38:43] Just think like, that he's probably been there awhile like we weave you know started to see some of hit a lot of the jet people have, kind of transitioned out now Andy Dunn has transitioned out that the guy has basically unlimited funds in the bank like I think he may just be like he's accomplished with what he can accomplish it at Walmart and we we might see a Changing of the Guard. Scot: [39:08] Did Nadal Ray say that he had like four years to make a trillion dollars but so it feels like they're being expensive choice. Jason: [39:18] Yeah I think it will be a I think he could afford an expensive choice I don't know how that would all work out like I could imagine him to go shooting some sort of payout, it made sense for both parties will see. Scot: [39:35] Is that a nand or nor. Jason: [39:37] Yeah so I want my official prediction to be that the rate of growth slows but if Mark Lori does away this year I want permission to go. Galloway and just like launch a website that's called Jason predicted that Mark would we. Scot: [39:52] Got it so it's amore with the Galloway Asterix. Jason: [39:56] It's the color its color exactly. So then my next permit prediction again following the trend that I like to always you always make some Amazon prediction so I'm going to steal that and. How to be honest like part of me feels like this is too easy and not a very controversial prediction but so many things don't happen that that like I do think it's fair I think this is the year that Amazon finally opens its own grocery concept bike separate from Whole Foods and I think it's going to be targeted at a more affordable price points and I think it's going to dramatically heat up the sort of digital grocery Wars and most notably, the Walmart Amazon Kroger battles. Scot: [40:44] Cool. Jason: [40:46] So number three is that I think we're going to see a lot more emphasis and talk about owned Brands this year and that's going to significantly grow as a part of retail so last year about 5% of all retail goods were, like private label type products and I think it could be dramatically bigger in 2020 I think it could be sort of in that 8 to 10% range. Which would be a huge disruption in the retail Marketplace. Scot: [41:19] What's your data source. Jason: [41:21] The 5% is actually 4.6% and I will have to I do have to get my intern to pull it out but that's predominantly focused on like the cpg and grocery space so it's one of those those Data Tracking companies but I'll find it for you. Scot: [41:47] So it's not Jason Goldberg go to himself. Jason: [41:49] No no no I we need a credible we need a credible external. Scot: [41:53] Is a data point out there were on the lam purses. Jason: [42:00] Yeah I like that one we just put it in the Echo chamber and and it'll become real. Scot: [42:06] That'll be interesting so that does that include digital native recall brands or this is more just like Target spending up. Jason: [42:17] Yeah, so I'm primary thinking about omnichannel retailers like Shifting the focus to Brands they own rather than so like to be it's more of the the, Captain Jack's of the world like I think Walmart's going to make a major effort to grow their own Brands Target you know me is is putting a huge effort into their new grocery brand and I I just think, the big macro Trend in in retailers we're going to see a couple retailers really try to can compete on, sort of Assortment and being the everything store and then in North America to me that's Walmart and Amazon and every other retailers going to try to win by selling stuff that no one else has and so I just think that's going to result in a lot bigger, Pechanga retail selling their own stuff instead of other people stuff. [43:12] We shall see ya. My fourth prediction is you know you you have on the area that there's a lot of momentum at the moment and returns and reverse Logistics another one for me is the installment payment space so I said installment payments are going to dramatically heat up and I think that's going to result in at least one major acquisition in that space so I think like, when I talk about installment payments I'm talking about a lot of these companies that are sort of alternative credit means a lot of them are kind of like, Finance your purchase in for for monthly payments that kind of thing and cities are friends like affirm and afterpay and Karma and I I just think that you know next year you see one of those acquired Maybe by a major credit card company or Bank you know I think some of the big traditional Financial folks are going to want to own a piece of that hot space And so there's going to be some good acquisitions. Scot: [44:15] Who who do you think this is an addiction but I'm curious who you think the buyers are going to be like traditional like Financial folks like City or or is. Jason: [44:26] Yeah so I think I think the big the big Banks participating banks that have a retail credit Division if you are receiving retail credit services so you do private label credit cards for like Best Buy, these guys are now taking a chunk of that space and and they've accomplished something that you've always wanted to do which is their built into the checkout flow which is super valuable to these credit card issuers and so I could easily like imagine one of those credit card firms wanting to acquire one of these guys I also think you could, you know it could be a PayPal or, square or you don't even like one of the big credit networks like Visa. Scot: [45:15] Singing payments do you have plans to move to Africa this year. Jason: [45:20] I was going to but I've been told that I only have one job and so I'm not qualified to to like move to Africa and remotely do my two CDL jobs. Who would you be referring to buy a by chance. Scot: [45:36] So Jack Dorsey CEO of Twitter and and square it's just kind of randomly said he's going to move to Africa for some. Of time if she can get Scott Galloway it really angered him he's very upset about. Jason: [45:52] Yeah but In fairness like I think of you a shit like Square in particular you're like, why is my guys been in a lot of his time on this Twitter thing and then now he's going to do it from Africa like that that would seems like, that would be a legitimate reason to have some concern. Scot: [46:12] Yeah yeah yeah. Jason: [46:14] Yep I would love to visit Africa but I think it would be on vacation and then my V prediction. Is one that I feel like I used to do all the time and then you know I skipped a year, so what will try it again I think this is going to be a year that digital in-store really heats up and the surprising piece of that is this much-maligned a technology that people in our industry like to make jokes about the the ugly QR code I think is going to make a a major comeback at retail and we'll see a bunch of of a Retailer's deployed QR codes for various forms of mobile wallets and particularly for like, letting you scan products and read reviews and things like that ends in retail stores. So those are my five and then. Scot: [47:08] DuckTales risky people hate QR you want a visceral hatred of York. Jason: [47:12] Yeah I feel like it's it's a bit of sneaky success I feel like there's a lot of people but they're pregnant primarily pendants that like have all this negativity around the QR code but didn't secretly you know. There there's a bunch of of use cases where the QR codes have been like Paramount like it's, it's you know a huge chunk of all payments at Starbucks and it's Walmart pay which is secretly been a success and it's you know it's it's Snapchat and if you go to China it's everywhere is WeChat so, so hopefully we'll see you by usually I am dead wrong in these things so I am not overly confident about any of them but. But I'm at least throwing it out there and again because the bonus is always treated me so well I thought I would throw a bonus in this year. Scot: [48:03] What do you have for this year. Jason: [48:06] So my bonus is I'm just going straight negative because I'll be honest when I first read these forecasts all five of my forecasts are things that we're not going to happen and then I realized that I can't I can't be that guy right so so I tried to make more optimistic reasonable forecast but then I reserve the right to point out all of the Ebenezer Scrooge bah humbug, moments so here's my long list of things that are not going to happen this year cashierless retail stores like Amazon go blockchain 5G big data and personalization none of those those Technologies are going to have a major impact on retail Talking Heads are going to go crazy about them and write stories about how you know if you don't do it immediately you're going to go out of business, but I think they're going to be the examples of success are going to be few and far between I don't think, everyone loves to talk about DJ need a vertical Brands but I don't think any of those are going to break out in a be particularly successful in 2020, I for sure don't think we're going to see any major retail antitrust actions in the US. [49:11] So that would be my negative Scott Galloway prediction I also don't think the the brick-and-mortar marketplace stores so that's beta showfields neighborhood Goods I don't think they're going to have a huge success or break out in 2020 and Shop of eyes getting a lot of Buzz right now but the the, thing I hear most about Shopify is that they're going to become a viable competitor for Amazon and I actually don't think they're going to compete with Amazon at all in 2020. Scot: [49:42] Yeah that the people that say they can compete feel like they think it Shopify would have some front door kind of marketplace Tech experience that kind of what you think people are looking. Jason: [49:54] There's people that talk about maybe they aggregate traffic and have some kind of marketplace experience where you could shop across multiple vendors you know they they bought a logistics company this year in the rapidly building out there with just aches and on paper that looks like, fulfillment by Amazon and some people are like oh that's competing with a fulfillment by Amazon but as I as we said earlier in the show I admire Shopify think they're making a bunch of the right decisions and they're doing really well. None of the services they provide to a client in my mind. Replace or compete with any of the services Amazon provides in anyway and like, I think they're for the most part synergistic in there they're going to have a lot of customer overlap but it's the end of the day Amazon is in the business of generating a huge amount of traffic and monetizing that traffic and they sell that traffic to their customers and that's exactly the opposite of what Shopify does Shopify does everything for you but get you any traffic whatsoever and you are totally responsible for bringing your own traffic and so I just think, that's a that's a, both sides of that strategy makes sense for both companies but I just I think all the pendants that are like oh you know the secret competitor for Amazon's going to turn out to be Shopify I just don't see it. Scot: [51:15] Any other bonuses you want though there. Jason: [51:21] No no no no I think I press my luck enough hopefully that you know there's some nuggets in their our listeners will be able to use they shake their 2020 and that will be able to redeem ourselves when we unquestionably I enter the new decade next January. Scot: [51:43] Yeah you know what maybe it would be fun as if listeners I'm just doing this off-the-cuff so what if listeners wanted to add some and we could kind of like aggregate some of the better ones in and talk about them on the next show but then also when we do the recap see what had a third competitor which of these listeners and see how they do against you. Jason: [52:05] Yeah that's a great idea because I it's it's kind of boring coming in second so I feel like third would be that's why I've been to just. Scot: [52:14] Looks like it would feel better if it smells cancer. Jason: [52:17] Fair enough. So maybe I try to take only the worst products that be funny I try to cherry-pick the worst predictions and then it still be me so yeah I'm totally in on that if listeners want to jump on to Facebook and we leave any of their own predictions or hit us up on Twitter will be happy to aggregate them put them in the show notes and include them in our recap next year and that's going to be a great final call to action because it's happen again we've used up our a lot of time so definitely love to hear all of our listeners predictions and also feel free if you just think, Scott and I are crazy and you want to refute any of our predictions we'd love to hear your thinking behind that and as always the beginning of the year before you get really busy at work is a perfect time to jump on iTunes and finally give us that five star review. Scot: [53:10] Things are running Jason congrats on salvaging a tie out this year. Jason: [53:15] Thanks very much it it it it feels good to be West behind than I usually am thanks everyone for listening and until next time happy commercing.

Halloween is here again, which means costumes and candy for the Whiskey Women! Join Janet and Blair as they sample an array of bourbon and alcohol flavored treats -- and enter for your chance to win some treats to try yourself! 

The Boss School is the only podcast that introduces you to the best business minds in the world and then…makes them teach us something. In this episode host Nicole Lapin talks to Rosie O'Neill, the co-founder of Sugarfina.

It is a slow news week, but action packed full of some awesome kickstarter projects and one of a kinda Zelda merch that you can pick up. We also get wind of how to spot the updated Switch model with a new fancy screen and perhaps Joy-con updates! Follow Us Michael: Twitter, Instagram, Blog James: Twitter, Blog, YouTube Nintendo Dispatch: Twitter & Website Proudly recorded on Zencastr ⭐⭐ Review Us (http://www.nintendodispatch.com/review) ⭐⭐

On this episode we chat with the newest podcaster to join the Mayzie Media podcast network, Marty McDonald, a side-hustler turned CEO of Boss Women Media. Marty is on a mission to connect with women who want more. But not a little more…Big More! With an MBA in hand, she is helping to facilitate action toward establishing dreams and building businesses by creating activations like the multi-city Black Girl Magic tour which partnered with Sugarfina, and Boss Woman of the Year, which has featured special guests like Angela Rye and Melissa Butler of the Lip Bar.

It is a slow news week, but action packed full of some awesome kickstarter projects and one of a kinda Zelda merch that you can pick up. We also get wind of how to spot the updated Switch model with a new fancy screen and perhaps Joy-con updates! Follow Us Michael: Twitter, Instagram, Blog James: Twitter, Blog, YouTube Nintendo Dispatch: Twitter & Website Proudly recorded on Zencastr ⭐⭐ Review Us (http://www.nintendodispatch.com/review) ⭐⭐

Rosie O'Neill and her partner had a really amazing idea for a business, and then they actually made it happen. This power-house businesswoman is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the beautiful and magical candy shop for adults, Sugarfina. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear how Rosie went from overseeing marketing for Barbie to creating her own well-loved brand, and all of the ups and downs in between.   

Rosie O’Neill is the co-founder and CEO of Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique featuring a collection of artisan sweets from around the globe. Inspired by a third-date screening of the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," Rosie and her co-founder/fiancé Josh Resnick dreamed up a “candy boutique for grown-ups” featuring the finest confections packaged beautifully in the brand’s signature blue Bento Boxes. On the last few episodes, we heard about Rosie’s upbringing, running marketing for Mattel’s Barbie brand, launching Sugarfina, and the future of candy and retail. In this segment, Rosie shares her insight into the real reality of being an entrepreneur. She shed light on the daily stresses, how the problems change as your company grows, and the importance of building a network of like-minded entrepreneurs to lean on during difficult times. SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletter FOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhour FOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhour INTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com

Rosie O’Neill is the co-founder and CEO of Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique featuring a collection of artisan sweets from around the globe. Inspired by a third-date screening of the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," Rosie and her co-founder/fiancé Josh Resnick dreamed up a “candy boutique for grown-ups” featuring the finest confections packaged beautifully in the brand’s signature blue Bento Boxes. On the last couple of episodes, we heard about Rosie’s upbringing, her experience working in marketing for Mattel’s Barbie brand, and how she ultimately came up with the idea for Sugarfina and launched the business. On this segment, Rosie shares her insight on the future of the candy space as well as retail in general. We discuss things such as brand collaborations, the shift from retail to online, and how brands can differentiate themselves and use retail as a mechanism to create a memorable experience for customers. SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletter FOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhour FOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhour INTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com

Rosie O’Neill is the co-founder and CEO of Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique featuring a collection of artisan sweets from around the globe. Inspired by a third-date screening of the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," Rosie and her co-founder/fiancé Josh Resnick dreamed up a “candy boutique for grown-ups” featuring the finest confections packaged beautifully in the brand’s signature blue Bento Boxes. On the last episode, we heard from Rosie about her upbringing growing up in LA and how she fell into a marketing career, working in PR and eventually Mattel, where she became the youngest director of marketing working on the Barbie brand (a childhood dream of hers). In this segment, Rosie shares the story of how Sugarfina came about, the opportunity she and Josh saw, and the challenges they’ve faced getting it to where it is today. SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletter FOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhour FOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhour INTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com

Rosie O’Neill is the co-founder and CEO of Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique featuring a collection of artisan sweets from around the globe. Inspired by a third-date screening of the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," Rosie and her co-founder/fiancé Josh Resnick dreamed up a “candy boutique for grown-ups” featuring the finest confections packaged beautifully in the brand’s signature blue Bento Boxes. We chat with Rosie about her upbringing growing up in LA and how she fell into a marketing career, working in PR and eventually Mattel, where she became the youngest director of marketing working on the Barbie brand (a childhood dream of hers). Rosie also shares her personal experience going to business school and who she would recommend it to, as well as her advice on what roles to seek straight out of college if you know you’re an entrepreneur. Tune in! SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletter FOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhour FOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhour INTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com

Rosie O’Neill is an entrepreneur with a major sweet tooth for business. I had Rosie on ‘She’s Got Moxie’ back on November 15, 2017, and that episode is still today one of our most popular. Since my last interview with Rosie (about 450 days ago), Sugarfina has grown tremendously. "I am a big believer that you’ve got to focus on two or three things and do those things really well before you start to focus on the next thing.” - Rosie O’Neill. Learn more about this episode at joychudacoff.com/65

Marty McDonald, CEO of Boss Women Media joins Baily to talk about how she leveraged her network to launch the first Boss Women Brunch, why women of all ethnicities and backgrounds need to collaborate and amplify one another's voices, and how she convinced the CEO of Sugarfina to sponsor the “Black Girl Magic” Tour across the U.S. Visit bailyhancock.com/scl/3 for the complete show notes

On this Episode:Marty McDonald, CEO of Boss Women Media joins Baily to talk about: How she leveraged her network to launch the first Boss Women Brunch Why women of all ethnicities and backgrounds need to collaborate and amplify one another’s voices How she convinced the CEO of Sugarfina to sponsor the “Black Girl Magic” Tour across the U.S. Show Notes:Attend one of the Black Girl Magic Tour events in LA, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, or New York Read “The Blindspots of White Female Entrepreneurship” by Lydia Mack Follow Boss Women Media on Instagram at @BossWomenMedia Join the Boss Women Media Facebook Group Marty’s favorite collaboration tools: Instagram Join the Collaboration Coalition Facebook Group Submit a question for the Collaboration Q&A segment at the end of the show About Marty:Marty McDonald is the founder of Boss Women Media. Marty created BWM in 2016 as a personal need to connect with women who desired more. She wanted to be around women who desired more from there 9-5 jobs. After great success from the first brunch in May 2016, she knew there was a need for women to collaborate together. Marty established the foundation of BWM as a brand from each brunch and soon knew this was not just a social organization but an opportunity to help women cultivate the life they desired. In 2018, Marty left her corporate job of 8 years to pursue Boss Women Media full-time and make it a world wide known brand. Boss is her purpose in life to shown women, rather they are a corporate gal, side hustler or entrepreneur you have a voice and you can create the career of your dreams.

Welcome to episode 55 of The Blogger Genius Podcast. Today my guest is Nicole Ketchum, the designer behind the acrylic chandelier craze.  In this episode we talk about how to design and manufacture a product in China. We discuss what it takes to get the word out about your new product, especially one in a brand new category, what common mistakes entrepreneurs make when designing a physical product, what it's like to have to take out a loan to fund your inventory and so much more. If you've ever dreamt of building and designing your own product, this is the episode for you!   Resources: MiloTree Chandelier by NK Oh Joy Amy Atlas Warby Parker Away Luggage Everlane Planoly Glowforge AltSummit Transcript: How to Design and Manufacture a Product with Nicole Ketchum Host 0:03 Welcome to The Blogger Genius Podcast, brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Build your Shopify sales with MiloTree Jillian Leslie 0:11 Hi, welcome back to The Blogger Genius Podcast. The response to our new Shopify popup has been terrific. If you have a Shopify store, definitely go try it. Try our popup on your blog to get people to shop on your store. If you have a friend and know somebody who has a Shopify store who could benefit from it, please tell them about it. It's all part of your subscription and it takes, gosh, less than a minute to set up. All you do is just put your Shopify URL into the box and the popup will have your most recent products show up on it. And as you know, MiloTree is the easiest way to grow your social media followers, your email list. Head to MiloTree.com, sign up and get your first 30 days free. Today, I am interviewing Nicole Ketchum. And she is one of the first people I've interviewed who has built a physical good, a real product that she sells. She sells these beautiful chandeliers, you'll hear all about it. She is incredibly honest with her journey. If you are thinking of creating a physical good, you definitely want to listen to this. And even if you're not, I think her story is incredibly interesting and insightful. So without further ado, here is Nicole Ketchum. Nicole, welcome to the show. Nicole Ketchum 1:47 Thank you for letting me be here. Jillian Leslie 1:48 Oh, wow. So we met because you reached out to me about coaching probably a year ago. Nicole Ketchum 1:57 Yes, yes. And it was a great call. You helped me in so many ways. Jillian Leslie 2:02 Oh, I'm so glad. I'm so glad. And I think it's really cool because you are one of the first people that I am talking to on the podcast about creating a physical product. And so can you tell like what your product is and and how you got started? And, you know, I'm sure my audience will go and check it out. Creating and selling a physical product Nicole Ketchum 2:24 Yes. So I design acrylic chandeliers. That's the medium I currently work in. And I had the idea in late 2011 and spent two years researching the idea that I had before pulling the trigger. I made a prototype in late 2013 and threw together a website and crossed my fingers and launched, and four years later, here I am. Jillian Leslie 2:58 Okay, first of all, what is an acrylic chandelier? Nicole Ketchum 3:02 So basically, we created a design where two pieces get cut by a laser cutter and then there are slots on each of the pieces of the chandelier. And you take the two pieces and you slap them together. They have holes at the top where you put two S hooks and you can hang it anywhere. And you can hang it with chandelier chains that you can get at like Home Depot or Lowes. Or even fishing wire. They're very lightweight, which I've said a lot but actually people still ask me quite frequently, and they're only three pounds. Jillian Leslie 3:42 Okay. And they don't light. They're decorative. Nicole Ketchum 3:46 They're decorative and it's a new concept. I apparently designed a product that didn't exist. Jillian Leslie 3:52 Okay. Nicole Ketchum 3:54 So that's very exciting but it's also been a learning curve. And they're perfect because acrylic is basically plastic, and it can go inside or outside. It can go below 20 degrees. It can be in hot weather. You can put it up anywhere that you can hang. They're perfect for weddings and parties. Jillian Leslie 4:15 Exactly. That was my next question, which is, what is the use case? Where do people use them? Nicole Ketchum 4:20 People use them for parties, events, weddings. I use them in my child's play room. They can go over a bathtub, they can go over a bed or a nursery. Jillian Leslie 4:36 I was gonna say I'd like to put one in my daughter's room. Nicole Ketchum 4:39 Yes, I have one hanging over my daughter's bed. Jillian Leslie 4:43 Okay. And your background though, is in product design. Right? Nicole Ketchum 4:48 No, actually I went to school a long time ago for English and then I worked in marketing and graphic design. Jillian Leslie 4:54 Graphic design, okay. Nicole Ketchum 4:55 Yeah, for a very long time. But it was more like corporate design. So my fantasies were I wanted to design wallpaper and home goods. And in reality, I was designing annual reports. But I eventually started to make that leap on my own and I eventually transitioned into surface design and I was designing patterns for stores. And it still didn't feel like it was enough for me. And I interviewed for Michaels Corporate a long time ago in 2011, when my husband and I had lost our jobs from the fallout from 2008. And they had challenged me. It was between myself and another designer come up with something for Halloween that's modern and that people can use. And for myself, I've always wanted to have a really fun chandelier for Halloween that I could just throw over a table. I always lived in apartments when I was younger, you know, there's no outlets and places. So that was the idea I had and I was going to do a foam core. And my husband who is a designer as well, he said, "Why don't you do acrylic?" So I designed a raven and moon chandelier for Michaels Corporate along with competing the patterns that they could use for journals. And I presented it to them and I believe they must have been on the cusp of transitioning from where they were to where they are now, and they said I was too modern. I thought that was really interesting because I know I would fit now. Jillian Leslie 6:35 Yes! Nicole Ketchum 6:36 Yeah. But back then, I thought it was still a great idea and I couldn't get it out of my head. Designing a product in AutoCAD So I spent every weekend just researching, talking to people, going to stores and eventually harassed my husband into going to his office on weekends and working in AutoCAD to come up with the two lines that I have currently, which is the octopus and the fancy. Jillian Leslie 7:04 Okay. And what is AutoCAD just for the people who don't know. Nicole Ketchum 7:07 it is a computer-based software that allows you to design in 3D. And that is not my foray. I was able to sketch the idea but he took it and made it real. And then I think we must have done that for six months straight and eventually pulled the trigger and ordered a prototype through a company that I found on the internet. Then we got to see in real-time how that worked. Jillian Leslie 7:38 Okay. And was this a company in China? Was it here in the United States? Nicole Ketchum 7:42 It's in Las Vegas. They're such a great company. I worked with them when we made our Disney chandeliers. So then we realized that we had a product that actually worked and so I ordered two prototypes -- one for the octopus and one for the fancy. Then I basically, when I totally believed this and I push it all the time, it's fake it till you make it. Jillian Leslie 8:06 I love that. Nicole Ketchum 8:07 I changed the colors in Photoshop and pretended that I had a full catalog. Jillian Leslie 8:11 I love it. Love it. Love it. Nicole Ketchum 8:14 I didn't tell anybody. But I was like, whatever, what's going to happen? And nobody ever found out and people started ordering. I mean, of course, I changed the colors to reflect whatever the Las Vegas company had and then I would get an order and then I would place the order with them. And it was both time consuming and very expensive, but it was perfect for me to just start to see who my customer base was, who was ordering my product and what they were using it for. And that was really fascinating. Jillian Leslie 8:48 So what was your assumption going in? And then what did you start to learn based on what your customers were ordering? Nicole Ketchum 8:57 My assumption was that they were going to be like me, where they were just going to use it for maybe a holiday and it took on a life of its own. Getting your first order of a product you design My very first order was from Nordstrom for a party and they used it on the table. They didn't even hang it. And I was shocked and delighted, and I even asked them. They said that they were just perfect centerpieces. I was like "Oh, okay." It's not what I designed it for, but that's awesome. And then I noticed that party stylists, event planners, they got it immediately. I didn't have to explain to them at all. And I did have to explain to like the average person at home that was just looking at home decor. So I noticed there was just that interesting correlation and also a disconnect happening between where I thought they were going and where they were actually going. Jillian Leslie 9:55 Right. So it seems like more sophisticated designer-y people got it. Nicole Ketchum 10:00 Yes. Jillian Leslie 10:00 And moms might have needed more education. Is that true? Nicole Ketchum 10:04 Yes. Because they don't have lights. There is that learning curve. "What do you mean they don't have lights?" "Well, what do you do with it?" Whereas the party stylists and event planners were like, "Oh, yeah, I'm just gonna put this over a dessert table. Jillian Leslie 10:19 Okay. That's very interesting. So what is the price point right now, if I were to buy one? Nicole Ketchum 10:25 The price point for the octopus is $59.99. And the fancy is $69.99. And I have a limited edition gold that is new and one of a kind, and that is $89.99. Jillian Leslie 10:41 Got it. Now tell me, I remember this from our conversation. Somebody... it was Disney. Somebody like got it and was like, "We want to order this." Nicole Ketchum 10:50 Yes. I basically had my coaching call with you and the very next day, I got an email from Disney. I kid you not. It was insane and so exciting. And they found me on Pinterest. Yes. And I was like, "Score! I'm doing it right." And they asked me to make 21 custom chandeliers for a new store that was opening up for visual merchandising. And three different sizes. So it was imperative that I still had that Las Vegas connection. We made a 12 by 16, a 24 by 20, and a 40 by 60, which is huge. And 12 different colors. Jillian Leslie 11:37 Oh my god, okay. Nicole Ketchum 11:38 Yes. So that was awesome. And they had a very, very, very tight deadline. I totally met that deadline. Overextended myself, over delivered, and under charged them. And they were incredibly happy when I flew down in March to see them. So they ordered at the end of December, almost mid-December, and February 1 is when they needed it. Jillian Leslie 12:07 Oh, wow. Wow! But wait, wasn't there somebody else who had discovered them too? Maybe it was Nordstrom. I don't remember. Where you were like, "Ooh," like early traction? Nicole Ketchum 12:20 Yes. I've actually had a lot of different celebrities use them. Jillian Leslie 12:23 Okay, maybe that's what it is. Okay. Nicole Ketchum 12:25 Yeah, early traction would have been Nordstrom and then right after that Michael Buble's sister used them for a book party that she had written some children's books and bought a whole bunch. And then I got picked up by the Associated Press and then I went nationwide. And then I started getting orders from there and more traction. Outsourcing production to China -- how to do it? Jillian Leslie 12:47 Okay. So you were looking at then factories or outsourcing in China, that kind of thing? Nicole Ketchum 12:55 Yes. When I had spoken to you, I was still stuck on kind of a hump of how do I do my next inventory run. My first inventory run had been successful but the company then came back to me, which actually happens a lot, you can't order this amount. You have to order thousands And that's how they get you. And so I had to take a step back. And after Disney, I decided to go on Alibaba. com and just tell them exactly what I need as an RFP, and then have people just kind of send me their company information. Jillian Leslie 13:39 What's an RFP? Nicole Ketchum 13:41 A request for proposal. Jillian Leslie 13:43 Got it. So that means you're soliciting companies to say hey, "This is what I want to make. Can you do this? You know, a factory in China, come and tell me how much this would cost." Nicole Ketchum 13:55 Yes. Now, I want to preface that with when you have a product or you have proprietary information, and I have all my designs registered with the US government, I can't patent anything because the slot technology is not new. So I had to have them sign NDAs so that I could send them my CAD files that my husband had designed because that is your proprietary information and you should never give that out willingly. So they had approved that they knew what I was speaking about, what kind of product I needed beforehand. So there was a lot of back and forth of here's some pictures of my product and what have you done. And I eventually, surprisingly, to my delight, found the largest acrylic supplier in all of China who is my manufacturer. Jillian Leslie 14:48 Wow. And then did you have to place one of these gigantic orders? Nicole Ketchum 14:54 I did not. My first run back in 2014 was for 350 chandeliers. And this new company let me just place an order for 450, which maybe doesn't sound a lot to the average user. "Okay, you only jumped 100." But as far as money goes, it was a difference of $3600 to $8500. Plus shipping. Jillian Leslie 15:21 Wow. Were you able to order them in different colors like for your inventory? Nicole Ketchum 15:25 Well, that's where they get you too. If I could, I would have done a ton of colors. Because people ask me all the time, "How come you don't have other colors and another product?" but that's what I was given. So I had to order my bestseller, which is white, and a new one which I just had a gut instinct would do well based on I used to have a mirror chandelier that sold out super quick. So I ordered a gold. And that was $12,000. How to protect yourself from knock-offs in China? Jillian Leslie 15:56 Wow, wow, wow. And is there... because I've heard this, you come up with something and then somebody in China sees it and knocks it off. Do you have that concern or kind of how have you protected yourself? Nicole Ketchum 16:13 You know, initially I did, but... not to say that our files are complicated, but they are somewhat. And it's interesting to note as a side note, when we first designed the product, it was great but we did have some breakage. And my husband and I could not figure it out. And his brother is an engineer. And one night, he was looking at our chandelier and he was like, "All these points are pointed and they need to be curved." And we were like, "What?" And so that whole sort of cyclical thing with our design, I'm not afraid of China knocking me off because it's kind of intricate. And I say, if you want to, great, you know, I have the paper trail. You know, I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I did initially and I'm just really not going to be worried about it anymore. How to market your product Jillian Leslie 17:06 I love that. I love that. Okay, so let's talk about how you have gotten your product out there. So you build this product, by the way, you did something interesting, which is you built this on a hunch. Now, again, you seem to manage your downside risk, meaning you didn't order 5,000 of these to start and you started to see how people were using them so that it could inform you, or what colors people were interested in. So I love that strategy that you were kind of going piece by piece and I love that you change the colors on your website to see what people wanted without going out and, you know, buying all this inventory. Nicole Ketchum 17:46 Right. That's a mistake a lot of people make. Jillian Leslie 17:49 Two things that I have to give you props for. One is that you seem humble enough to know that you don't know all the answers. Like that you're working with your customers to figure out what they want rather than, "Oh, I know what they want." And two, that you are scrappy. Nicole Ketchum 18:15 Yes, I am. Jillian Leslie 18:16 Because when we talked and you were in that conundrum of, "What do I do? My company that I'm working with wants me to place this huge order, and that's a lot of money. And I don't want to take on that risk." And you solved it. Nicole Ketchum 18:33 Yeah, exactly. I was almost mad and so I took that anger. And I was like, you're not going to stop me. But they did stop me for a while, I did cry for a little while. And then I just got mad. And my husband and I are like, how are we going to pay for this, and we took out a home equity loan to pay for this run. But this run versus 25,000+ is more manageable over 30 years. I can do this, I can pay it off. And that's okay. That's debt that's manageable. And so yeah, I wasn't going to let them stop me. Jillian Leslie 19:11 I love that. Scrappy. Okay. So how did you start to get the message out that you made this product? You know, whether it'd be Instagram, email, what was your strategy? And what is your strategy? Nicole Ketchum 19:26 Well, initially, my strategy was I basically sent it to every blog I could possibly find back in 2014. And I got free press from Amy Atlas and Oh Joy pinned my octopus chandelier and it went crazy viral. Jillian Leslie 19:45 So wait, so you sent them a chandelier? Nicole Ketchum 19:48 I didn't send them a physical product, this is what's so awesome. I just sent them my website and I was like, This is new, you've never seen anything like this. If it interests you, could you write about it? Jillian Leslie 20:01 Good for you. Nicole Ketchum 20:02 I know. I don't think I could get away with that now. Jillian Leslie 20:05 Why? Nicole Ketchum 20:06 I think things have changed in four years. People are demanding product plus payment. And four years ago, they were like, "Sure." Jillian Leslie 20:14 Right. Content. It was like cool. Nicole Ketchum 20:18 Just to kind of like, yeah. And it was cool and I knew that, if anything, it's different and no one's seen it before so that had it going for it. So that's how it happened. It was just a lot of free press. And then I hit a wall after a couple years. People wanted a lot of product and a lot of money. But initially, that's how it got me started and that's how my customers heard of me. Jillian Leslie 20:46 Okay. And now then, how did you... again, this is very true to social media to what happens, which is trends come and go. You know, people see it, they love it. But then all of a sudden, that strategy doesn't work anymore. So then what did you do? Nicole Ketchum 21:03 I had a business mentor who I was stressing because I'm sure just like a lot of people, they look at Shark Tank and think that, "Oh, I'm not making a million dollars. I'm not successful." And I was stressing out bad and he was like, "Nicole, it's better to build as slow as you can and as thorough as you can versus run hot and disappear." Yeah, so I took it to heart and I decided to slow down. I had paid off my whole debt for my first run. It was going slow, but I was like, nobody knows that I'm here because press had died down like you had said, so I started building my Instagram out and it's been very slow. Building my Pinterest out. I was on Facebook for a while. I've now gotten off Facebook and just focusing on Pinterest and Instagram. And now I'm trying to build my email list. And really what I did about two years ago is I reached out to party stylists and bloggers and I said, "Here, I'm going to send you some free product. Could you just test it out and use it and maybe take a picture or two?" and it's been working great. Jillian Leslie 22:19 Really? Okay. Okay. Nicole Ketchum 22:22 And now, some of them are my friends and they really tell me what they think about them. And pretty much everyone, and I'm not tooting my own horn, I'm just saying that they love it. And they've been telling me what colors they wanted and how they were using it. And then they're giving me the photography, which as you know, photography is a lot of money. So I've been saving tons of money off of that and that's how I've been doing it. It's been super slow. But I finally sold out of the best seller and the mirrored one sold out super quick. And I started getting orders from like Sugarfina and other companies like that, and I couldn't fulfill the orders. And that's when I hit the wall and then talk to you and then decided to take out my loan and find another company. If I was on Shark Tank, they would be like, "See you later because you're growing too slow at four years," but I feel like I'm finally gaining some important traction and Disney has been able to kind of give me that tailwind that I need to keep going basically. They validated me. And, you know, I'll go to my grave just being so happy about that. Thinking about the mom market to get your product out there Jillian Leslie 23:41 That's so great. Have you thought about the mom market, reaching out to mom influencers? Nicole Ketchum 23:51 Yes. I have done that in the past and I've even run contests. And I've been in, I don't know, 5 or 10 national magazines and done contests as well. And that's worked okay. But just so people know, just because you get press in a magazine doesn't equal sales. In fact, it's a misnomer and it usually doesn't equal sales. Unless you're in Oprah. And that's not happening as much anymore. Jillian Leslie 24:24 Right. And also then what you want is to be in a magazine and have them link to you in their digital form so that you can get some SEO juice. Nicole Ketchum 24:34 Yes, I recently linked with Life & Style magazine and J-14 magazine and did a contest for one of my octopuses. And it was the largest contest they ever had. There was 24,000 entries for this and they wouldn't share any of the information with me. So, yeah. So that was a good learning experience. A, it showed me people are probably interested in free product but also that there was interest in my product. And B, I have to figure out at some point down the road, more of a marketing budget for that sort of thing. And also taking out the HELOC loan last year for the inventory, we decided to jump off the cliff. And my husband and I were like, we're just going for it, guns blazing. We're going to try everything. And we hired a company that is like a Shark Tank company, so they are going to be working with me to kind of shrink my chandeliers, repackage them, approach buyers, and also kind of help me get into that mom market that seems to be pretty hard for me to get into. Jillian Leslie 25:50 Got it. Now what about though trying to get into Michaels or trying to get into boutiques? Nicole Ketchum 25:59 Yes. In its current form, they're 24 by 20, and the box is huge and it's not made for retail. I was recently on a website called Fair and basically,it's trying to be a middleman and knock out trade shows. So buyers would go in, look, buy your product and then test it out in their stores. And I was getting a lot of buyers. But they were saying, "Well, how do we put this in the stores?" And I was like, "Exactly." Jillian Leslie 26:35 What do you mean? You mean to put it on the shelf it's too big? Nicole Ketchum 26:39 Yeah, right. Jillian Leslie 26:40 The actual box is too big? Nicole Ketchum 26:43 Yes. If they wanted to use it for visual merchandising, that's cool and that's fine. They should buy it at a full price and not wholesale. So that told me that my direction, I stopped selling on there and I pivoted with this company. And they're going to shrink it to down to like, I think we're going to shrink it down to like 12 by 16 or maybe even smaller. So that it won't have the giant glorious impact it has now, but those are mainly used by party stylists and wedding planners. So the littler ones will be good for the little girls, teenagers, college students, moms. And I want to be able to have them packaged so they can slide right into the stores. And yes, we have a whole target market that we're looking at. Michaels. Target. Hasbro. Hasbro is actually in Rhode Island and my goal is to get a face-to-face meeting with them and talk about designing some princess chandeliers for them. Jillian Leslie 27:53 Oh, my god. Yes. Yes. And I feel like also somehow with Disney and all of their, you know, all that they do in terms of merchandising. Nicole Ketchum 28:02 I know. I recently reached out to my contact there and we left on perfect terms. They were very happy with me. But he also had let me know when they were there that they work at a crazy cycle. They used to work at 90 to 120 days and now they're working 30 days for a project and he can't even see straight. So he never got back to me and I don't want to bother him right now because I don't want to ruin that relationship. So I'm thinking when I rebrand and repackage because I'll be changing the name of my company too. Jillian Leslie 28:38 From what to what? Do you know? Nicole Ketchum 28:40 Yes. I just talked to the company today. So Chandelier by NK doesn't work for me because it has my initials and I want to move past just designing chandeliers. And it was hard for some people even in my Instagram like to look at it and get what it was. Not my pictures but just my handle. So we decided on Hey Girl Decor. Jillian Leslie 29:08 I like that. Nicole Ketchum 29:11 And I haven't come up with a tagline yet. Something like "modern and colorful" or something. That series or something like that. I have a trademark attorney looking now. There are several companies with the 'Hey Girl' name, but they are like tea, jewelry, a nonprofit. So nothing in the sphere I'm in. Jillian Leslie 29:30 Got it. And is that your vision? Is your vision to build out new products? Are you working on new products? In your mind are you designing them? Like, what are you thinking? Nicole Ketchum 29:42 Yes, I designed a heart chandelier. Well, it's basically just a hanging heart that slots in two. I wouldn't really call it a chandelier. And I've been dying to get that out and I've had some people buy it just on the side. And they love it. And that's the other thing that I want to impart to anyone that takes a company and is making a product. Sometimes I'll see people and they're cranking out a product, A, I don't know how they're doing that because that costs a lot of money. They must have like a slush fund or something. But in reality, I've had to take a huge step back based on, you know, monetary budget. And so I'm hoping that I can get the heart out in the next year. And yeah, I have a ton of ideas that I've had to basically shelf because I just can't do them, I can't afford to do them right now. Jillian Leslie 30:39 So what is your advice to somebody who says, "I have this great idea for a product" and they see companies like Warby Parker or, you know, these direct to consumer brands that have, you know, some sort of interesting story behind them like Away luggage. Or just even these like, I just bought a bra from a company, I forgot even the name but it's like, you know, designed by women and, you know, selling them. Everlane, those kinds of things. Like you've got this vision. And what is your advice to those people? Nicole Ketchum 31:16 I would say, go for it. And make sure that you love your product, know your product, know where your product fits, and who your potential market is. And then just go for it. Jillian Leslie 31:32 Really? Nicole Ketchum 31:34 And don't worry, just like I've had to go slower than I wanted and I'm an impatient type A person, I'd say slower is better. The tortoise does win the, you know. Jillian Leslie 31:47 Win at the end, yes. Win the race. Nicole Ketchum 31:48 Win at the end. Give yourself that grace to realize that it's not a straight arrow shot that just when you think you've climbed the hill, you are back down that hill. But don't give up. And if you hear any of those stories of the two guys that built Warby Parker or the Away luggage, they also struggled and had to raise funds and didn't know if they were going to be able to pay everybody. And then they hit their hump and they got over it. And so I would say just get that in your mind that not that it's going to be hard or easy. Just that you have to be focused. Jillian Leslie 32:32 Right. And you have to, just what you said, love your product because it's not... It can't be about the goal. Or it can't be about like, you know, making this huge. successful company. Nicole Ketchum 32:46 Correct. Jillian Leslie 32:46 It's the long slog. Nicole Ketchum 32:49 Yes. That's perfect, Jillian. That's so perfect. Yeah, it is a long slog. And you have to love it because there's been times that I wanted to give up but it wouldn't let me basically. Jillian Leslie 33:02 That's so interesting. Now, do you sell on Instagram? Nicole Ketchum 33:09 I am working with, well, let's see. I lay out my Instagram on Planoly. It looks like Planoly has a way that I can link my shop. But because I'm not on Facebook, I'm actually kind of punished for that and I can't put my prices on there. Jillian Leslie 33:24 On to your Instagram? Nicole Ketchum 33:26 Yeah. Squarespace is my website provide and they'll work with, you know, and Facebook owns Instagram. So there's all that. But yeah, that's what I would like to do. Some people, I do get customers from Instagram. But mainly my customers are either finding me online or buying through. I just got on Wayfair so they're buying through Wayfair or Houzz or AHAlife. And that's how I'm selling too. Selling your product on Amazon Jillian Leslie 33:57 And do you sell on Amazon? Nicole Ketchum 33:59 That is what my company that I just hired is going to be doing next for me. I tried to do it on my own and what ended up happening is some of my vendors threw my stuff up there without asking me. And then when I went to approach Amazon about selling, they're like, "Well, you're already on there and who are you?" And they're just giving me the worst time. So I'm having my company represent me to go forward getting me on there. Jillian Leslie 34:27 Got it. And have you ever explored Etsy? Exploring Etsy as a selling platform Nicole Ketchum 34:33 That's so funny. Yeah, my brother-in-law even worked for Etsy when I was having trouble. They were absolutely horrible to me. Jillian Leslie 34:41 Why? Nicole Ketchum 34:43 I went on there and they were like, "Well, you're not handmade." And I said I understand that. Then they had the wholesale, the Etsy wholesale, and I approached them for that. And they said, "Sure, send me all of your proprietary information, plus all of your manufacturing." And I was like, "Well, I can send you everything from my manufacturer." Like documents, logs, pictures, you know, everything that's proving that they are there, they are watching the workers. There's nothing illegal, or, you know, like a sweatshop about it. And that wasn't good enough for them. They wanted my CAD files. And I said absolutely not, and they wouldn't let me on. Jillian Leslie 35:25 That's so interesting. But now though, I feel like Etsy will let people with goods from China, for example, sell that it's no longer as handmade as it used to be. Nicole Ketchum 35:37 Oh, I agree. I thought that that was quite ironic and troubling to me that there were tons of China knockoffs and other things on there and they were giving me the hardest time and my brother in law worked for Etsy corporate. Wow. Okay. And they told me to never asked them again. Seriously, because I was gonna say, go back to them. Yeah, I mean, I don't know, maybe, maybe I can. But I got an email like a year ago. And they're like, you better not even think about asking us to get on and I was like, are you harassing me? Yeah, I don't know what happened. But Etsy wholesale failed. So maybe those people are gone. I don't know. Jillian Leslie 36:17 Okay. So now what is your kind of like, it sounds like building a product is I mean, building a physical product, not a virtual product is a lot of pushing the rock up the hill. How not to get taken advantage of building your own product Nicole Ketchum 36:31 It is and you need to arm yourself with as much information as you possibly can. Because anyone and everyone can take advantage of you. And I don't mean that in a bad way. And I'm not knocking China because everyone I've worked for in China has been wonderful and kind and hardworking. But the more you know about your own product, and that includes materials, how it's made your your files, the better, you are able to push that rock up the hill. Sign up for MiloTree and get added to my "Actionable Business Tips" email newsletter Jillian Leslie 37:04 If you want to get weekly business tips. Small digestible business tips, head to military. com, sign up for an account, you get your first 30 days free. And you also get added to my email list. Each week, I send a little nugget that will help you move your business forward. These are tips and tricks we've used to grow our two successful businesses. And now back to the show. Mistakes made building a product So what mistakes did you make the you would say, Oh, don't do this. Nicole Ketchum 37:38 Um, yeah, tons. Let me say, not knowing enough about acrylic. Jillian Leslie 37:49 Okay. The actual material. Unknown 37:50 Right? I'm not really the first time not the second time asking them point blank. What reorder number do you need? Nicole Ketchum 38:02 And what is acceptable to you? I'm finding out what would you have done differently? Unknown 38:11 I probably wouldn't have used them. Okay. Yeah, basically, they were a middleman. The owner is an American citizen who lives in Berkeley and owned a manufacturing company in China. And that China company also was like a middleman for because they have to source the acrylic, they have to source the crystal that I put in the middle of the fancy chandelier. The they have to source the S hooks and everything has to be sourced. Okay, um, and then they send those things to you. And then you look at it and they you say yes or no, this isn't fitting what I envision and I didn't know enough back then. So when I approached this second manufacturer, this time around, I had already my source all the materials from China and gotten it. Okay, so I knew exactly what it was. Yep. And I mailed them a sample, which I didn't do the first time. Okay, I mailed the sample of what my box look like, what the phone that holds a chandelier looks like what the shadow looks like, the accessories for the chandelier so that they would not mess up at all open. It was perfect. Jillian Leslie 39:26 Got it. Now, do you know other people like you who are creating products? Nicole Ketchum 39:33 Um, no. Jillian Leslie 39:35 Okay, to say it's like, I feel like other people are probably going through a lot of the same stuff. Nicole Ketchum 39:44 You know, it's been really frustrating for me, because I've joined a couple mastermind groups and everyone's either doing stationery and I'm not knocking any of that. I'm just saying they're doing like paper goods or, you know, other things that I'm not doing. And I at the level of I'm at, I need to find women or men that are already above me making more money and are where I want to be. And I haven't been able to, to find that and I need that so desperately that that camaraderie and that like ability to say, Hey, you know, I need to source this, or did you did you find I had I just had someone approached me who makes acrylic jewelry. And she's like, Are you okay, giving me that information? I was like, absolutely. Because it does nobody good for you to hold all of your sources close to your chest. You're just being selfish. And I don't believe in that kind of world. So I gave her my manufacturing contacts. Okay. I wouldn't do that. If, like some, if I'm teaching a class. I'm not going to give that to everyone, unless they pay for it. But because she was already making product, right? And was having trouble sourcing and acrylic. I gave that to her. Right. But I need that kind of, I don't know, I need to find people like that. And I'm having the hardest time that's so interesting. It's lonely, right? Jillian Leslie 41:17 Oh, I was just, I just recorded another podcast. And we were talking about that exact same thing, really general about being an entrepreneur that, you know, it's like, it's like the other moms at your kids school don't know what you do. And they don't quite understand it. And it can be it's a lot of you at a computer, right? And it can be lonely. And that's honestly one of the reasons why I wanted to do this podcast because I wanted entrepreneurs to share the truth about their lives, and to talk about struggles as well as the successes. But it's so easy on Instagram to see everybody's perfect life. Exactly. And it's not like that. But the reality is, it's the long slog. right? 42:06 It is and I've challenged myself, one of the things that I did get away from the mastermind group I was in is that I challengde myself to take behind the scenes video. So this morning, I went down to my basement. It's so glamorous, right? Show my inventory, right? Here it is, when you place an order, I go down to my large basement, and I get a box and I bring it to FedEx ups, or the post office, right, and I drop ship, but you don't see all the stuff I had to do to get to that point, or the money I had to spend, right. But here it is. And I'm trying to do that. Because people are like, "Well, can you get it in a pastel pink?" And or can you just do this? And I'm like, that's great. But I can't because I don't own a giant laser printer. Right. And cutter that I can put so right. Going to China to build your product Jillian Leslie 42:54 Right. Now, what about though either like, have you thought about going to China? Does that make any sense? Unknown 43:02 Yes, I would. That is one of my dreams is to to keep my manufacturer that I currently have and build a great relationship with them and go over there. Definitely. Jillian Leslie 43:15 And what would going over there give you? What's the benefit? Nicole Ketchum  43:20 Just seeing your product made in front of your eyes versus just having to do everything over the computer. And we used to do late night Skype sessions, right. As the time difference. Yep. Hmm. And they even walk me around the factory with their phone. So I could see that it was indeed a good place to do business with that would give me I don't know more. I'm not confidence. I don't know what the word is. Um, I would just feel more ingrained with my product. There's a little bit of me being removed. Jillian Leslie 43:53 I get it. Now. What about you investing in of laser cutter? Nicole Ketchum 43:58 I looked at a GlowGorage and that's something that I could probably use to make small products like, Yeah, but there I think their capability is like, till, like, 212 or something. Okay. Um, we looked, my husband and I, before we, we took the loan at, we looked at taking a loan out for a laser cutter, and even just making them smaller, we would still need a giant size and you and I live in the northeast, you can't put it in the basement, it would seize up and freeze. So and there's no room. Yep, yep. Yeah, so we definitely, he's, since he's a designer, he was able to, like, approach it. He builds dorms for colleges, so he was able to approach it with a very pragmatic, right, and he was like, you're just gonna have to go through China again. And I was like, you're right. So Wow. Nicole Ketchum 44:48 Yeah. Well, I guess Yes. Nicole Ketchum 44:50 Oh, I was gonna say the company that I had I hired and, and I don't mind saying what, what company is, it's called idea buyer. And they're out of Columbus, Ohio, okay. They have their own manufacturing firm in China. And if things are successful with them, which I hope they will be, I could probably do a trip with them to go and see. Teaching other entrepreneurs about product design Nicole Ketchum 45:13 Yes, I eventually, along with having passion for home decor, and, and the stuff that I'm designing. I eventually want to teach other entrepreneurs. This, I discovered that I'm equally as passionate about that. And because I'm lonely, assuming other people are lonely. So I want to take the charge and lead because I am not seeing anybody really doing that. Jillian Leslie 45:36 Okay. So if you're interested in products, reach out, reach out to Nicole. Nicole Ketchum 45:41 Yes. Or go to the all conference. Jillian Leslie 45:43 Oh, yeah. So yeah, so let's talk about that. Okay. Well, first of all, what are you most excited about right now in your business. Nicole Ketchum 45:52 The possibilities with the company that I hired and with the connections that I hope to make it all conference and just the knowledge that I have, I have new inventory, new ways to sell it. Getting on Wayfare took four months. That was a big slog, and that's super exciting. I hope to be successful with them. So that's, that's what I'm excited about. Jillian Leslie 46:18 Okay, so we are both going to be at AltSummit in March. I am going to be talking about how to start a podcast in a weekend. This is my first time at AltSummer. And I had Gabby Blair on the podcast, you know, who is Design Mom and is one of the founders of AltSummit. And, you know, she said, definitely apply and I applied and so there, there I am, and you're going to be a resident to explain expert. Nicole Ketchum 46:51 Yes, I'll be a resident expert. At some point, I actually reached out to to Gabby, just saying, hey, do you guys need some of my chandeliers like over a table. It doesn't even have to be my table just for glitz and glam. And what did she say? I haven't heard back from her. But I'm pretty sure she's pretty busy. Yeah, okay. And one of my good friends. Olivia has been there several times and, and has worked in various ways with them. So I can always just ask her to how do I do that? Jillian Leslie 47:27 Right. And if if anybody in the audience is looking for a very cool design element in their house, or for a party or for their kids room, I love one for my daughter's bedroom. Definitely check out Nicole's product because they are super cool, beautiful, you know, they're very glitz and glam. That's what I would say. Yeah. And modern. Nicole Ketchum 47:49 Yes. Thank you. Appreciate that. Jillian Leslie 47:50 Definitely. Okay. So how can people reach out to you and you know, find out what you're doing connection with you and like pick your brain. Nicole Ketchum 48:01 They can always go to my website. It's for now. It's ChandelierbyNK.com. Or you can go to Instagram and look up chandelierbynk is the handle. You can just email me at Nicole@chandelierbynk.com or DM me on Instagram and I'll get right back to you. Jillian Leslie 48:22 I love it. Well, Nicole, I am again really impressed with your journey. And thank you so much for being on the show. Nicole Ketchum 48:01 Thank you Julian. I appreciate it. I look forward to seeing you in March. Jillian Leslie 48:22 If you're enjoying The Blogger Genius Podcast, please subscribe, leave a comment on iTune, rate us, share it with your friends, email me at jillian@milotree.com and I will see you again here next week.  

Don’t settle and don’t get comfortable! A sugary episode with the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Sugarfina, Rosie O’Neill! An epic love story. Boy takes girl on a third-date to watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ends up finding not only love but dreaming up “candy-boutique for grownups”. Sugarfina is a luxury candy boutique featuring a collection of artisan sweets from around the globe. Named one of the world’s most beautiful candy shops by Architectural Digest, Sugarfina is disrupting the $200B confections industry with an innovative store design and experience. Our conversation traverses through taste testing thousands of candies across the globe, facilitating creativity, power of experience, hardest parts of running a company, ways to empower women, relationship advice, and pushing your boundaries. An episode that will give you insight into a new industry and a fresh perspective to empower those around you!

The history of Jews nibbling Chinese food, LA vs. NYC, what to order at Genghis Cohen, and a Sugarfina holiday box taste test with film and television producer Jamie Patricof.

Rosie had doubts. At certain times she didn’t think she could do it. But she continued to move forward, along with her Co-CEO & Founder Josh Resnick, and eventually, things started happening.   “I realized that I was more powerful than I thought I was” she would later say. The challenges in entrepreneurship actually reveal who you are. It reveals your weakness and strengths. But it is in those moments that you can discover your power and reclaim it. NOTE TO LISTENER: This episode is a unique blend of pragmatic-real-world entrepreneurial advice and philosophy about the purpose and meaning of life. This episode is Part 2. Make sure to listen to both and read the show notes for highlights on our website. Check out the full post and learn what we learned at  www.commercefocused.com/episode-010-sugarfina.  Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to "The Story Behind the Brand" and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. Visit the Sugarfina's website: https://www.sugarfina.com/. 

I think the story of Sugarfina is really a love story. Not just between Rosie O’Neill and Josh Resnick, Co-CEOs and Co-Founders, but between Sugarfina and it’s customers. It started with two people who either by fate or coincidence went on a date and watched the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. And the rest, as they say, is history. However, that would be premature, the story continues and you can hear it right here on the Story Behind the Brand. NOTE TO LISTENER: This episode is a unique blend of pragmatic-real-world entrepreneurial advice and philosophy about the purpose and meaning of life and it has so much info to offer you that we had to divide it into Part 1 & Part 2. Make sure to listen to both and read the show notes for highlights on our website. Check out the full post and learn what we learned at  www.commercefocused.com/episode-009-sugarfina.  Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to "The Story Behind the Brand" and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. Visit the Sugarfina's website: https://www.sugarfina.com/. 

The Holidays are right around the corner! Liz and Sarah discuss holiday business gifts. From tassel key chains, to Sugarfina, to empowering socks, they’ve got suggestions for any budget. (But the big question is... what are they going to get for Marcia Clark!?) Then they talk about turning a negative into a positive after experiencing terrible traffic that eventually led to an impromptu writing partner dinner date with great wine. This week’s Hollywood Hack comes from The Fix Executive Producer and director Michael Katleman: chew gum on set. Finally, Sarah reveals her celebrity sighting: Travis Barker! Angel: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162065 Laurie Zaks: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1144175 Leatherology: https://www.leatherology.com Sugarfina: https://www.sugarfina.com The Fix: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7942774/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0015382/?ref_=tt_cl_t2 Note To Self Socks: https://www.notestoself.com Claire Vivier: https://www.clarev.com Topsy Popcorn: https://www.topsyspopcorn.com Burke Williams: https://burkewilliamsspa.com/giftcards/ Oprah’s Favorite Things List: https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a24483259/oprah-favorite-things-2018 Wallys: https://www.wallywine.com Marcia Clark: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1133849 Farm Shop: http://farmshopca.com Michael Katleman: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003150 Travis Barker: https://www.travisbarker.com Crossroads: http://www.crossroadskitchen.co Weingut Michael Frohlich: https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/escherndorf+silvaner+trocken+michael+frohlich Photo: Kira auf der Heide

Rosie and Josh have a sweet story indeed (starting strong with the puns here). As founders of Sugarfina, a high end, fun, and unique confectionary company, their journey started on an early date watching Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. In a classic “there must be a better way” moment, they both wondered why candy wasn’t that much fun or memorable for adults too. Just 6 years in, Sugarfina has 50 retail locations around the US and now Hong Kong, 85 people at headquarters and over 500 including all their stores. They’re also at over $40MM in revenue with zero marketing spend. It’s hard to describe how incredible this really is. That said, people say their candy is as “beautiful to look at as it is delicious” so it’s no surprise they’ve really made their mark. In 2017, they were described as “The Tesla of Candy” which was just about the highest compliment Josh could have ever imagined as a big fan of the disruption Elon Musk continues to demonstrate. This was my first husband and wife joint interview (though third husband and wife run company!), and it was as much fun as you think it might be with a couple very much in love that gets to travel the world to be inspired to make the next incredibly delicious and beautiful candy! Somehow, they still manage to live in moderation and not overdo it on the candy… Check them out on instagram at @Sugarfina and on their website where you can order or find their stores at sugarfina.com

If you've given or received a gift in the last six years, you've probably heard of Sugarfina, the luxury candy brand made for grown-ups. The champagne gummy bears and other adult-friendly candies wouldn't exist had it not been for Rosie O'Niell and a particularly good date she went on to see Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with her now business partner and fiancé, Josh Resnick. Prior to starting her own whimsical venture, O'Niell was working in brand management at Mattel for Barbie. "When I did eventually step away and start Sugarfina, it's like I knew how to do it and I didn't even realize I knew how to do it," she tells Hillary Kerr on episode 30 of Second Life.

Satisfy your sweet tooth as well as indulge your eyes with the unique candy products of Sugarfina. Sugarfina is a luxury confections boutique with the finest candies from artisans all over the world targeted towards grown-ups. Ben Smith, the COO of Sugarfina, joins us to talk about how he ended up in the company after … The post Ep. 27 – Sugarfina COO, Ben Smith appeared first on COO Alliance.

This is the first in my special Mickey 90 series. On this episode I talk about some of the new Mickey 90 merchandise available at local retailers and online including special candy from Sugarfina and Funko Pop Vinyl figures! Enjoy! Instagram/Twitter @mickeyinminutes mickeyinminutes.com

This week, Mousetalgia welcomes author and historian Jeff Kurtti back to the show to discuss his new book "From All of Us to All of You: The Disney Christmas Card." We take a deep dive into the history of the various Christmas cards distributed by the Walt Disney Studios over the years and we look at some of the artists responsible for the beautiful mailings. Kurtti also gives us a look behind the scenes at the making of a Disney book. Then, out of the night, when the full moon is bright... it's Zorro! We share a brief history of Walt Disney's hit television show, including the discovery of Guy Williams who would become the looming, 6' 3" Zorro, and the creation of the serialized show that captivated audiences throughout the late 1950s. We also talk about the studio backlot, Zorro at Disneyland, and that amazing theme song. Also - new Sugarfina and Lego celebrate Mickey's 90th - and more.

Listen in to learn more about why Rosie chose to make a retail store so early in Sugarfina's career, and the difficulties inherent in scaling your business. “At the end of the day, your product should sell itself. It shouldn't need an ad to sell itself. Make sure you have something that people get excited about and that they want to share it and buy it.” - Rosie O'Neill. Learn more about this episode of The Mentor Files with Monica Royer at www.monicaandandy.blog/40

How did a niche idea for a grown up candy store explode into a nationwide treat? Rosie O'Neill, co-CEO & co-founder of the luxury candy boutique Sugarfina, took charge of her own destiny by quitting her high profile job at Barbie to pursue what she always wanted - her own business. She gives you the sweet inside scoop on how to make your business stand out, how to train your entrepreneurial mind during your day job, how to start a dialogue with your customers, and how to flip the story that's always been holding you back. Let's meet! Come to our October Workshop in LA for a full 2 days of inspiring mastermind discussions, Q&As, 1-on-1 sessions & more! Get 30% your seat - go to dontkeepyourdayjob.com/workshop and use code DREAMJOB30 Thanks to Rothys! Go to Rothys.com and enter dreamjob to get your cute shoes & free shipping Thanks Grammarly! Go to Grammarly.com/dreamjob to get 20% off Grammarly premium today Thank you TalkSpace! Go to Talkspace.com/dreamjob and use code dreamjob to get $45 off your first month

Today, I'm talking with Instagram expert, Sue B. Zimmerman. We talk about how to win on Instagram NOW -- what's working and what's not. Listen to me in the hot seat as Sue critiques my Catch My Party Instagram page. She was definitely blunt, but since I'm always looking to learn, I was interested to hear what she had to say. I think you will be too!   Resources: Social Media Examiner Social Media Marketing World Sue B. Zimmerman Catch My Party Catch My Party Instagram MiloTree * May contain affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I might receive a small commission at no cost to you. Transcript: How To Win On Instagram NOW With Sue B. Zimmerman Host: [00:00:03] Welcome to The Blogger Genius Podcast, brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian: [00:00:11] Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the show. I am so excited to introduce my guest today because I am a fan girl of hers. This is Sue B. Zimmerman. Jillian: [00:00:24] I think of her as an Instagram guru. She's like a social media educator, she's a business coach. According to The Huffington Post, she's "one of the top 15 must-follow women entrepreneurs." If you are not following her, I recommend you do so. Welcome to the show, Sue. Sue: [00:00:43] Hey, it's really great to be here. And I love that you told me when we were pregaming, that you heard me in your ears when you were on vacation in Hawaii years ago. Jillian: [00:00:52] Yes. It was just as Instagram was this kind of cool platform, but nobody yet had cracked the code of how to use it for business. Jillian: [00:01:04] And all of a sudden I was listening to a podcast when you were on it, and you started talking about that and you made my eyes go wide. I think it was a podcast on Social Media Examiner. Sue: [00:01:18] Yes. Probably, because you said that you then met me at Social Media Marketing World this past year. Jillian: [00:01:22] Yes. And I stalked you. I ran off the stage and followed you, kind of into the back, where I shouldn't have been. And I said Sue, please come on my podcast. Sue: [00:01:33] Oh that's so funny. I do remember you now, and yes I do have a lot of stalkers but I love all of them, so it's all good. Jillian: [00:01:40] I feel like I want to start from the beginning, but I also want to make sure we touch on all the stuff that's happening on Instagram. Because there have been so many new things rolled out just in the last month or so. Instagram is a village Sue: [00:01:55] Yeah, this might set you up for some good questions, and I know that you have some in mind but let me just first say to everyone listening that, you know, Instagram is really a village. There's over 1 billion monthly active users now. Sue: [00:02:11] When I first started teaching six years ago, there was 140 million active users so the app is growing like crazy. And now there are neighborhoods in the village. That's what I like to say. On Instagram, your feed is your digital magazine Sue: [00:02:24] I use this analogy, I think it really makes people think more clearly about this app. So we have our feed which is what we've had all along, and that essentially is your digital magazine where the bio is the cover of that magazine; who you are, what you do, why you do it, and how you're different from everyone else that does what you do. Sue: [00:02:45] And then your feed is a representation visually of that content that you promised in your bio. And then we have another neighborhood which is our stories. Jillian: [00:02:55] Yes. Instagram Stories is another neighborhood in that village Sue: [00:02:56] And there's a street in that neighborhood called Highlights, because in order to have highlights, you have to pull down the content from the Stories and bring those resources into your highlights. And then we have Instagram Live, the third neighborhood. And then finally we have IGTV. Sue: [00:03:13] So there is a lot that we can talk about, but I want the listeners to know that no matter which neighborhood you commit to visiting and hanging out in, it's essential that you always show up with purpose focus and attention in a branded way that your followers will connect to you right now. Jillian: [00:03:35] What do you say though to entrepreneurs, so our audience is bloggers, small business owners, that kind of thing. And I always say this, their most limited resource is time. Sue: [00:03:48] Right. Jillian: [00:03:49] So you're telling me there are all these avenues, all these places where I might need to be. Sue: [00:03:55] Right. Well I mean I coach a lot of clients, and I have a lot of people in my VIP community for Ready Set Gram which is our signature course. And I tell people that you should not feel like you need to be everywhere because your competitor is, you need to be where you're happy being, where it doesn't really feel like work. Choose a social media platform that doesn't feel like work Sue: [00:04:19] If you're saying, oh my god, I've got to go post on Instagram it totally sucks, and I just checked it off my to-do list, next! You probably shouldn't be there, because so much of the success on Instagram happens after the post with engagement which we can get into soon. Sue: [00:04:33] But I tell my clients to master one social platform, know every nuance, every tidbit of information on how to excel and show up in a way that people are going to remember you so that you stay top of mind. Sue: [00:04:49] The more you spread yourself too thin and you just do random things, you're just going to get random results. Sue: [00:04:55] And that's the problem with most busy solo entrepreneurs, creative-preneurs is they just do random things thinking that they need to do all the things and and they don't have any traction. Jillian: [00:05:06] Got it. Okay. So if I were an entrepreneur today and given that you you laid out all these different features and places on Instagram, can you recommend one over the other? What part of Instagram should I focus on? Feed, Stories, Instagram Live, IGTV? Sue: [00:05:23] It goes back to what do you enjoy doing because a lot of people hate being on video. So they like have palpitations about like doing Instagram Live or doing IGTV, or maybe showing up in their Stories. Sue: [00:05:35] You know it has to be where you have a comfort level. And when you have a comfort level, you have confidence, and when you have confidence you show up in a great way. Sue: [00:05:43] The minute you are not comfortable doing something, it just doesn't translate well and again you get those mediocre results. Jillian: [00:05:53] Got it. OK. Because right now I have to say, a switch turned in me where I said I want to be more active on Stories. I was having those heart palpitations just feeling like Oh I don't know what to put on. And I don't think people are going to really care. Jillian: [00:06:13] And then I somehow shifted my mindset and said let's play around with this. Let's start exploring gifs and music, and all these new features and just have fun with it. And I know that for example, in my Stories they're going to go away in 24 hours. And that freedom has really helped me. Sue: [00:06:36] Oh yeah. I mean, first of all people, a lot of people really love my persona because I am so real and relatable and not perfect by any means, and I show up in that way in my Stories. What is the magic of Instagram Stories? Sue: [00:06:52] And so you get a real sense of the intimacy of that person and that, to me, is the magic of Instagram Stories. When you can craft a story that is entertaining, compelling, interesting, funny, behind-the-scenes, you name it. Sue: [00:07:06] If you can really connect to your followers in some way that makes them want to engage and converse with you, you now have a conversation. Jillian: [00:07:18] OK so I just have to interrupt, I see people though, in their Stories and let's say they have Etsy shops, or let's say they're creative in some way, but I'm watching their Story, their kids jumping in the pool and I don't care that much. So then I get worried like, I don't want to show my kid jumping in the pool. Sue: [00:07:43] Oh, agree. I know I am not interested in a day in the life of you as a mom. You know, what you do, what you eat, where you go that's on a personal-business account not a business-business account not a business Instagram account. Sue: [00:07:58] So I have two accounts, you probably know this. I have a personal, where I show the day in the life of a busy entrepreneur. Why you want a personal and a business account on Instagram Sue: [00:08:05] And yes I do show you my husband occasionally, and my kids, my dog, where I go, where I shop, where I eat, where I travel and people like that, because a lot of people live vicariously through my travels, because I am on the go, and I show them things that they never would have seen. And I do it in a way that is entertaining. Sue: [00:08:24] Now on my personal account, the Instagram Expert, I'm always showing up with and only with Instagram-related content for tips and strategies and news and tactics. And it's very laser focused. Sue: [00:08:37] I say stay in your lane. Stay in your lane and don't detour. The minute you detour and show me that you're having... you know cheers, it's 5:00p.m. somewhere, Margarita time like I don't care. Jillian: [00:08:50] Right. Sue: [00:08:51] Good for you. Exactly. Jillian: [00:08:53] Okay, I get it. So you then use both accounts very differently. Sue: [00:08:59] Oh yeah I'm very intentional, very very intentional. So Sue B. Zimmerman is literally me. If you want to connect with me as an entrepreneur. Sue: [00:09:11] I don't know if you know this, I've been an entrepreneur. since I was 13. I've had 18 businesses. I had my first million dollar business when I was 22. I was on QVC. Sue: [00:09:21] I've got lots of wisdom and information that backs up the claims of everything I teach and do. It's based on experience and not just you know "I'm an expert." It's like I had success in my store on the Cape using Instagram first. And I had a very very successful store. Sue: [00:09:42] I decided that I wanted to teach other people how to have the same kind of success because retailers were challenged and struggling and that's really how I got into starting to teach Instagram is as a small business owner who went through it. Sue: [00:09:57] I was on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, doing everything to get more customers, and the minute I started using Instagram, my sales increased dramatically, so much so that I'm just like this is crazy. And so I just knew I was on a mission. Sue: [00:10:18] Do you know who John Lee Dumas is? Jillian: [00:10:19] Of course! Sue: [00:10:19] John Lee Dumas is a good friend of mine, he interviewed me on his podcast. And if you go search Sue B. Zimmerman, John Lee Dumas, you'll see he challenged me on that interview. Sue: [00:10:27] I said, I did a video kind of staking my claim teaching Instagram and that video's like five years old. I got back from a conference and just said I'm going to teach everyone all over the world how to use Instagram. Sue: [00:10:43] So like I just kind of manifested what I wanted and I don't stop till I get what I want. I'm that entrepreneur. I'm that focused that determined. Sue: [00:10:52] And so six years later. Yes, six years later I have a business that's thriving, it's extremely successful. I have two full time employees. I have five contractors. We're a mighty team of seven and I play to my strengths every day. Sue: [00:11:09] And not everyone has that luxury. I don't want to go down a rabbit hole here with you, but that's just to give a little context to everything I'm saying. Jillian: [00:11:16] Absolutely. Absolutely. OK so here's here's my question, is the goal with Instagram connection? Is it, I want people to interact with me? Or is it I just want to kind of blast out my life? Instagram is about connecting and having a conversation Sue: [00:11:33] No no no. I mean everything's always, like I said, with intention. I believe that a comment on Instagram, if someone leaves a comment on Instagram, a real comment, not a follow me BS but I hope I can say that on your podcast. Sue: [00:11:50] OK so if somebody leaves a real comment in my mind, that is permission for you to have a conversation, meaning you can respond. I mean you should. You should respond to every comment. Sue: [00:12:03] But meaning you could take that conversation deeper if you wanted, to you could strategically have conversations one to one in the Instagram Direct Message because conversations lead to building a thriving community. Sue: [00:12:16] And when you, and when you have a thriving community of people who champion for you and endorse what you do, and talk about you, when you're not listening and tag you on posts and repost your content then you have conversions. Sue: [00:12:29] And conversions, we all want them. Are things like growing your email lists or actually selling something but it doesn't start there. And that's where people have the biggest problem. They want to have a sale first without even saying hi or commenting or connecting. Sue: [00:12:48] You've got to connect with a comment to have a conversation, you know to take that conversation deeper. And I do this. I have blocks on my calendar, twice a day, where I am spending time engaging in real conversations, and people ask me questions I answer. I direct them to a blog post I've written I've direct them to an IGTV video I've done. I direct them to an Instagram post. Sue: [00:13:15] I give them the information they need and I build that trust and so when they are ready to purchase something from me, or maybe join my group coaching or buy my hashtag handbook or purchase one of my social media classes, like my instagram Story class or a hashtag class or a course I can direct them where they need to go and not sell them. Sue: [00:13:37] No one likes to be sold to. No one. People want the thing that's going to help them get what their pain point is, like what are their challenges. Jillian: [00:13:47] Right. As a busy entrepreneur I think that we think about Instagram as brand building. And by the way, that's really abstract. How Instagram is brand building Jillian: [00:14:01] I think we think about it in a really abstract way and what you're saying is very different. Sue: [00:14:06] Oh but also I believe when it's done well, absolutely it's brand building. If you have a branded look and feel an energy around your content, you will attract your tribe. You will attract those that you are trying to serve. Sue: [00:14:23] But if it's not branded or there's not a theme or a message or information that's relevant to attract that person you're not going to have results. Jillian: [00:14:35] Right. But I think though you're taking it to another level then I think I typically think, when I think of Instagram. Which is for me it's more amorphous brand building. Jillian: [00:14:46] So for example, Catch My Party, which is our first business. We have something like 150 thousand Instagram followers, and we show off content from our site which is all about parties. People upload their photos of their beautiful parties we show them off. Jillian: [00:15:04] And so for me it's always felt like this is our way of giving back to our community, to say here we want to highlight these people who've done amazing work, hopefully send some followers their way. But I think that I have not taken it to another level. Sue: [00:15:25] What is your account? Jillian: [00:15:26] Catch My Party. Sue: [00:15:30] What does that stand for? Jillian: [00:15:32] Catch My Party is take a look at my page. Sue: [00:15:36] OK. So I'm looking at your account already. Wow you really have 156,000 followers. Jillian: [00:15:42] Yeah. Sue: [00:15:43] Wow. Jillian: [00:15:44] Thank you. Sue: [00:15:45] OK and how long have you been here? Jillian: [00:15:47] About five years. Sue: [00:15:49] Wow. That's impressive. Jillian: [00:15:52] And by the way I just have to say all organic growth. We've done nothing except post beautiful parties. Sue: [00:15:59] Wow that's really impressive. OK. So where you wrote Catch My Party that's where you're missing out in some SEO. No one's searching for Catch My Party on Instagram Sue: [00:16:10] And your bio could definitely be improved a little bit more directive. And what's this app? What is MiloTree and how does it work? Jillian: [00:16:19] So what we did, was we built a plug in to help us grow Catch My Party. It worked so well for us. We rolled it out as a separate company called MiloTree. And that's what the podcast comes out of is MiloTree. So if they want to grow your Instagram followers you can do it with our MiloTree pop-up. Sue: [00:16:40] What is this pop-up? What does it do? Jillian: [00:16:43] So what you do is you install it on your blog or Shopify store, or something like that and it pops up and it'll say Hey follow me on Instagram and the pop-up itself shows your most recent posts on Instagram. Sue: [00:16:56] Gotcha. Okay. Jillian: [00:16:57] And then you can also use it just so you know, for Pinterest, for YouTube, for Facebook or to grow your email list. Sue: [00:17:06] Okay cool. All right. So anyway Catch My Party definitely can have some improvement in the bio there and the thing that's missing with Catch My Party in my opinion is people. There's no people here. Jillian: [00:17:18] OK. Sue: [00:17:19] I'm not interested in looking at parties, I'm interested looking at people having fun at a party and partying. I'm not interested in the set up. To me this is just ok. This is Pinterest. Jillian: [00:17:32] Yes. Sue: [00:17:34] This is more Pinterest. On Instagram, people want to emotionally be pulled in so. Oh Happy Day. Oh Joy. Sue: [00:17:44] Oh Joy is a great account. She pulls you in. Oh Happy Day party shop pulls you in. Although they may they do a party shop, but they show people every now and again on theirs. Sue: [00:17:56] So you're missing out on the human aspect of your account. It's more just showing the party. It's very almost like marketing heavy. Jillian: [00:18:05] I love this free session here. Yes. And so that's what we are trying to think about, which is how to personalize it. And my instinct is to personalize it with Stories. Sue: [00:18:20] Oh for sure. You're not doing any yet? Jillian: [00:18:22] No I am, I am I think you might see my new haircut for example. Sue: [00:18:27] OK. Yeah. So I see your haircut. I really don't care. Jillian: [00:18:43] I know! Sue: [00:18:44] That's such a disconnect from what you post so I would unfollow that account if I saw that. I'd be like, Who are you? There is nothing that represents a party in this post. Jillian: [00:18:54] Right. Sue: [00:18:55] And so I would have been like, I'm bouncing. This is not what I signed up for. This is not why I'm following you. It has to be consistent everywhere. If it's not you're going to lose your followers. Sue: [00:19:08] Favorites of the Week. Yup what we do do that. Yes. Yeah. I mean again people are missing. Yeah. I mean it's a whole human aspect of the brand that's missing. Jillian: [00:19:24] I love that. OK. I mean it's funny because I feel like my businesses are very siloed. So in my podcast people get to hear me and know what I am doing. But I feel like Catch My party is probably too siloed. Sue: [00:19:46] Yeah I mean we can do a whole strategy session. Let's keep going with your questions for the for the interview what will what will help your followers the listeners. Jillian: [00:19:55] OK so let's talk about followers and how important are they and how important is it to be growing followers. Sue: [00:20:04] It's important to grow the right followers, not followers, and to be honest with you I have a lot of followers on the Instagram expert and they're not the right followers. Sue: [00:20:12] And so you know I have 64,000 followers or something like that. And I wish I was much more intentional at the very beginning and blocked followers that were literally just random followers you know from countries, guys, teenagers, the random people that followed me all over the internet but don't take any action that lurk on. Sue: [00:20:34] Because if I blocked all of them my engagement rate would be so much better. But now that I have some, I have so many followers that would take so much time for me to go back and the truth is I grow my email list about 200 to 250 people a week every week. Sue: [00:20:48] And that's my biggest goal. My goal isn't the followers. My goal is getting people on my email list so I can stay in touch with them. Jillian: [00:20:54] Interesting. OK. But then we were talking about how you will also reach out and talk to people on Instagram. Sue: [00:21:02] Exactly. I do that every day. I mean I do that either in the direct message with a video, I do it in comments every day. It's what I do. How to show up for your Instagram community Jillian: [00:21:13] But people will say oh my god, that's exhausting. Sue: [00:21:17] Well it's not when it's what you love doing. And how I get results. You want to grow with rising thriving business. It's working. That's positive reinforcement. Sue: [00:21:30] I show up for my community because my community loves what I do. And I have real conversations and I have real customers and I have real clients and I'm and I make real money. Jillian: [00:21:39] Right. Sue: [00:21:40] So there's the positive reinforcement it's working. If it's not working you're doing something wrong. Sue: [00:21:45] If you're not converting you know, you have 156,000 followers. And are they on your email list or are they just on Instagram? Jillian: [00:21:54] They're on Instagram. Sue: [00:21:56] Do you have a list? Jillian: [00:21:57] Yes. Sue: [00:21:58] OK. So if they're on Instagram they're not on your list that there's a problem. What is your goal? What do you try to get out of these followers? Jillian: [00:22:04] We monetize via traffic predominantly and affiliate sales. So we're not selling a specific product. So our business model is a little bit different. Jillian: [00:22:16] So with MiloTree we are selling a product, an app. So that's again why our businesses are very different and so therefore, I want that one-on-one connection with MiloTree, with the Blogger Genius Podcast, whereas I want eyeballs on Catch My Party. Jillian: [00:22:39] So for example, on Catch My Party, yes we are incredibly aligned with Pinterest, and we have 850,000 followers on Pinterest. Jillian: [00:22:49] So I say to people you know if you're a mom, and you've been planning parties, chances are you've been on my site. Sue: [00:22:56] OK. Jillian: [00:22:59] So we are intentional. And that's where Instagram, we've just kind of grown naturally. But I have not been as intentional with Catch My Party on Instagram so hearing you is very helpful. Sue: [00:23:13] Yeah because I'm looking, you have 156,000 followers and you're not even getting 100 likes on a post. You know the one you just did. OK you have a couple hundred you make it to about 300 on a post. Jillian: [00:23:27] Well it depends. Just so you know, a mermaid party. We will get many more. Sue: [00:23:32] That's interesting. Jillian: [00:23:33] So it's very content specific. Sue: [00:23:35] Yeah. Yeah. Jillian: [00:23:37] You know if it's a theme that people love, we can get over 1,000 that kind of thing. Sue: [00:23:44] Right. Right. Yeah. So what is the question you want me to answer for your followers or your listeners here right now? Jillian: [00:23:51] For my listeners is, should people on Instagram be thinking about growing followers? And I think what you answered is, it's really for you in your business about engagement and that if, in fact, you have high engagement, Instagram and their algorithm will go ooh this person's getting a lot of engagement. We should show her stuff to other people. What is engagement on Instagram? Sue: [00:24:15] Right. Well engagement is based on how many saves you get, how many comments you get, how many likes you get, and how quickly they all comment. Jillian: [00:24:23] How quickly they comment once you post? Sue: [00:24:25] Yes. Jillian: [00:24:27] OK. And so therefore for so that's why you were saying it be better if you went through and got rid of the dead weight? Sue: [00:24:35] Yeah. I mean if only you know, that's a lot. Sue: [00:24:38] You know, when you have hundred you know thousands of followers that's weeks and weeks if not months and months of time, and so I just would rather move on. And now I block anyone that's following me. That is just like, Are you kidding me right. You know like it's just I can tell by their profile by. I know. I know my target audience. And if you're someone that doesn't fit it I'm just saying bye-bye I'm not interested in your follow. Sue: [00:25:05] I would rather have the right follower, but I wish I did that long ago. That's that's what I'm saying. Jillian: [00:25:11] That's so interesting. Could we talk about traffic because on Catch My Party. That is our primary goal. But Instagram is not necessarily a great way to get traffic. Sue: [00:25:24] What are you talking about I get traffic everyday. What do you mean? Jillian: [00:25:28] I guess versus say SEO, focusing on SEO or Pinterest drives traffic. Sue: [00:25:35] Well so it sounds like that might be one of your preferred platform. I'm not heavily into Pinterest and I don't pay for any SEO. We get great traffic to our website every day because we use keywords and everything that we do and all of our blog posts and all of our YouTube channels and we know it. What are the right keywords. Jillian: [00:25:51] Right. But in terms of when you are driving people, is the goal on Instagram to drive people to your site? Sue: [00:26:01] Absolutely. Every day. Jillian: [00:26:03] OK. Make sure you have a website, not just an Instagram account Sue: [00:26:03] Because you own it, you don't own Instagram. What if it blew up tomorrow? What if you lost your account because you bought followers. People message me, they buy followers, Instagram is cracking down on anyone with fake followers. They're deleting accounts. They're banning people that are doing bogus things on Instagram and they come crying to me as if I can fix it for them. Sue: [00:26:24] I'm like, you shouldn't have bought all those followers or Instagram knows when to use software you know. So the only thing you have is your website. Jillian: [00:26:34] So what do you think though about people who build businesses on Instagram who don't have a web site? Sue: [00:26:40] That they could go away tomorrow and they'd be up shit's creek if that's what they're relying on and that's why it's so important to have a website. Sue: [00:26:47] I mean you can start a business on Instagram. Many people do. My daughter did. You can start and test the idea you can do market research, but you should always, your goal should always be to get people to go back to your website and join your email list. Period. Sue: [00:27:02] That is our goal every time. You know we have a weekly campaign with our blogs with my social stuff on Facebook. I'm constantly looking to grow my email list and nurture. Sue: [00:27:15] The reason is I can nurture those relationships off of Instagram on my own terms through my own emails. Jillian: [00:27:22] Right. And then how often are you sending emails? Sue: [00:27:25] Once a week pretty much, we are publishing a blog once a week. Again we are in touch with our audience once a week when our list grows daily. Jillian: [00:27:34] Right. Right. Okay now for example then, for you with Instagram. Do you feel ever there's whiplash? How to keep up on all the changes with Instagram Sue: [00:27:45] What do you mean by that? Jillian: [00:27:46] Like they just rolled out IGTV. Sue: [00:27:52] I love it. I love keeping up with all the updates. They're just improving and making it the go to place to be. Jillian: [00:27:58] Yes. Sue: [00:27:59] People have abandoned Snapchat including myself. People that are intimidated with doing a YouTube channel which I'm not and I have one Sue B. Zimmerman you can link the show notes. People can learn from me for weeks there. Sue: [00:28:11] But a lot of people are intimidated with the process of a YouTube channel, and so this is a good opportunity to put up some content that lives on in your channel. How is IGTV different from YouTube? Jillian: [00:28:22] Tell me your thoughts on IGTV and do you think it will rival YouTube? Sue: [00:28:27] No it will absolutely not rival YouTube because YouTube has a website and IGTV is an app. So the SEO is not the same. Jillian: [00:28:35] OK. Sue: [00:28:36] I have content on both. I have very successful IGTV videos, all of them over a thousand approaching 2,000 views. Lots of comments because my content is still consistent to what I do on Instagram. Sue: [00:28:52] We are testing the channel and doing seven different content buckets there and next for our next team meeting we're going to review the stats, the views, the comments, and retention on each one because you can get stats for each one too. Jillian: [00:29:08] Wow. OK so if I'm an entrepreneur and I want to try out IG TV, what would be your recommendation for my first video? Sue: [00:29:19] It really depends. Like that's not where I would start if you're an entrepreneur, you have to understand all the areas of Instagram like we talked about at the beginning and if you're good on video and you are a good teacher and you can keep someone's interest and deliver really good content in a short period, then you can you should create the content that your followers would be interested in. Sue: [00:29:41] Keep a Google doc. What are the questions they're asking you? What are the pain points they're having? Do they want to know the recipe for the mermaid cake? Is there dye in the frosting are you using pearl, you know edible pearls you know, like what are they asking you? That's what you that's what you create. Jillian: [00:29:58] Got it. OK. What accounts do you follow that you go they are doing it right? Sue: [00:30:04] I follow a lot. Everyone listening could go to the Instagram Expert and look at who I'm following. I am right now following under 650 accounts but I'm following them all because they're all amazing. Sue: [00:30:17] And my favorites are brands that I'm very close to the Drybar. I get a blow dry time so I love the Drybar and I feel like I'm walking into the Drybar when I'm there. Sue: [00:30:28] Creative Live. I love their content. I taught on stage there four times and I like supporting them. I like Post-It. Post-It brand is very creative on Instagram as a big brand. Jillian: [00:30:42] Yes. Sue: [00:30:43] They stand out nicely. There's Emily Coxhead. She's got an account which is awesome called the Happy Newspaper and from London it's a real newspaper I actually get it delivered so that's pretty cool. Jillian: [00:30:58] OK. Sue: [00:30:59] Sugarfina is a great account, a candy account which you could learn from. Like if you replicated what they did a lot. They've got the whole party thing going on, but it's with candy. Their accounts are really great. Sue: [00:31:12] I mean I could go on and on but people can just go and look at what I do. Jillian: [00:31:16] Great. Well okay. One last piece of parting advice to people who want to do better on Instagram. Sue: [00:31:29] OK, and the question is? Advice for success on Instagram Jillian: [00:31:32] So that would be to people who are overwhelmed by Instagram. What would you say? I guess you've answered this question, but ok if I were to say back what you're saying and you can tell me if this is correct. Jillian: [00:31:49] Find your lane, be intentional, and you don't have to be everywhere, and interact with the people who are interacting with you. How does that sound? Sue: [00:32:05] Yeah I mean I think people that are stressed about posting, if they spent more time engaging they would have greater success. Sue: [00:32:12] So to everyone listening it's like Oh my god I can't keep up. I got to post something every day. You don't, you just have to post really epic content when you post, not crap. Sue: [00:32:22] And when you post epic content, you will get people interested. If you can't come up with something awesome to post and show up as an awesome person who is engaging. Sue: [00:32:34] I will say this is one of my ninja tips is when you show up in someone else's comment feed and yes you all should turn on notifications on the Instagram expert. That's where on the top right there's three little dots. If you press those three little dots and you turn notifications on. Sue: [00:32:50] Every time I post you will get a notification and so I challenge you to do that and when I post be a part of the conversation. Tell me what you learned from the post. Because I'm always teaching when you, the listener shows up consistently in the comment thread with a real comment that is thought provoking. Sue: [00:33:11] The person commenting below you will see it and if you show up consistently in the right communities whether it's brands, businesses, bloggers, authors that you love and respect you will get their attention because every time you comment, there's a notification that you've commented and not only will you get a notification from the content creator. The people above you and below you. Sue: [00:33:36] People leaving comments will see your comment and if it's really good, they might say wow that was such a nice comments that that person just left. I'm going to go check check that out. Sue: [00:33:49] And that's what people don't realize, the power of the comment is so profound if people just focused on real conversations, Instagram would be so less stressful for people. Jillian: [00:34:03] I love that I love that. Ok you've shared places people can reach out to you. But what is the way the best way to see what you're doing to connect with you? I'm sure it's like to DM you. So what should people do? Sue: [00:34:19] The best thing to do is to literally you know open up your browser, if you're in the car pull over pull over and grab my guide. SuebZimmerman.com/bloggergenius and you will get my free guide that will set you up for success. Sue: [00:34:42] And then you will be on my email list and you will be connected to me via email and you'll get all my wonderful emails and I'm talking about. So that's number one. Sue: [00:34:51] Number two for those of you that are action takers, and I love action takers. Come on over to my Instagram account and introduce yourself on one of my posts and let me know that you came over from this specific interview and you can tag MiloTreeapp. Sue: [00:35:11] Okay so I mean do you personally have an account? Or those are your two accounts? Jillian: [00:35:15] Those are my two accounts. Sue: [00:35:16] Okay so you can tag MiloTreeApp you can let me know that you heard this on this podcast interview and I will come over and say hello to you. Jillian: [00:35:28] Oh that's wonderful. That's wonderful. Jillian: [00:35:31] Well, Sue, it has been such a pleasure. I am a fangirl even though you've given me some some stuff to think about and work on. I so appreciate it again. The more I can learn, the better. Sue: [00:35:45] Yeah well I am brutally honest it's that East Coast Boston persona that I have, met with a heart of love. Jillian: [00:35:53] Of course and I feel it. So thank you. Sue: [00:35:56] Okay good. All right thanks for having me. This is a lot of fun. How to grow your authentic Instagram followers fast and free with MiloTree Jillian: [00:36:00] Are you trying to grow your social media followers and email subscribers? Well if you've got two minutes I've got a product for you. It's MiloTree. Jillian: [00:36:09] MiloTree is a smart pop up slider that you install on your site and it pops up and asks visitors to follow you on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube Pinterest, or subscribe to your list. Jillian: [00:36:24] It takes two minutes to install. We offer a WordPress plugin or a simple line of code and it's Google friendly on mobile and desktop. Jillian: [00:36:34] So we know where your traffic is coming from. We show Google-friendly pop-up on desktop and a smaller Google-friendly pop up on mobile. Check it out. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

The next time an ROI-obsessed executive or board member questions why you're so heavily invested in something “fuzzy” like brand, throw this quote back at them: "We were able to get to $40M, no marketing spend." That's Rosie O'Neill, the co-founder and co-CEO of Sugarfina, and our guest on this week’s Brand Builder. You may have seen Sugarfina at an upscale mall or a Nordstrom near you - they’re a luxury candy boutique for grown-ups that brings a fresh and fashionable approach to confections, and a true disruptor in the $200B confections industry. In this conversation with SnackNation CEO Sean Kelly, Rosie credits their emotionally resonant brand for helping make them a word-of-mouth sensation. Plus, Rosie explains why Sugarfina is bullish on retail when most companies balk at brick and mortar. Links Sugarfina @Sugarfina on Instagram Connect with Rosie on LinkedIn Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

Happy Thursday, August 23rd Everyone! Weather in the parks today is Sunny with a high of 85 degrees. On this day in the year in 1997, The Disney Channel Original Movie, Northern Lights, Starring Diane Keaton debuts. It was the first film to be called a Disney Channel Original Movie, prior to this, they were called Disney Channel premiere films. Today's the day! Tickets for D23Expo 2019 are officially now on sale! Also, Today a whole New Mickey Line is now available at Forever 21 in Celebration of Mickey's 90th Anniversary! The Candy Shop, Sugarfina is celebrating Mickey's 90th Anniversary with a limited edition collection inspired by Mickey Mouse & his Iconic style. Breaking News, Disney Parks Blog just revealed All the Halloween Treats & Eats coming to the Parks September 7th. From New flavored Churros, Pumpkin Spice Beignets, COCO inspired Conchas & Halloween Hot Dogs to Green Apple Spell Lemonade, the list is literally never-ending! This just in and the internet is going crazy. Possibly still rumor but according to the DisInsider, Disney has offered the role of the Live Action Little Mermaid, Ariel to the actress Zendaya. No official word from her people yet. For More Minnie Mice Minute Updates, Subscribe on Itunes, SoundCloud or Google Play! Again, I'm Mama Mouse Cynthia, co-host of The Minnie Mice Show, Make sure you check us out at @TheMinniemice Thanks for listening…. This is the Minnie Mice sounding off! Until Next time, Be Kind & Spread Some Magic!

On today’s episode, I geek out over the art of taking your thank-you game to the next level. Read a full transcript of today’s show here See a photo of that cute bento box here, too! Got a career conundrum you want me to cover on the podcast? Or a #bossmove of the week to share? Call and leave me a voicemail NOW at 910-668-BOSS(2677). Disclaimer: I’m an emphatic fan of all the products and services detailed here, which is why I’m recommending them. That said, some of the offers above also include affiliate links, which means at no cost to you, I may earn money when you click through to make purchase.Disclaimer: I’m an emphatic fan of all the products and services detailed here, which is why I’m recommending them. That said, some of the offers above also include affiliate links, which means at no cost to you, I may earn money when you click through to make purchase.

  I’ve been thinking a lot about boundaries, particularly as it relates to what I say yes to and what I say no to in both my personal and business life. I don’t know about you guys but I have a tendency to take one too much, or under estimate how long things will take.  I mostly get excited about opportunities, say yes and then find myself over scheduled and stretched thin.  I know I’m not alone in this.   But here’s the deal.   We all have the same amount of hours in the day, and as entrepreneurs we have a lot of different things pulling on us for our time — projects, family, friends, exciting opportunities, daily grind of running a business. Its exhausting trying to do all these things, keep everyone happy and yet still have time for ourselves.   When I interviewed Rosie from Sugarfina on episode 64 she stressed how important self care is, why we need to take action before things are perfect, and we both acknowledged that its difficult to protect our time because as entrepreneurs the running to do list is never ending.  Rosie shared how she decides what to say and what to say no to, and I thought it might be helpful to share some of the things I consider with you   This is something I’m working on, and I’ve definitely been more diligent in protecting my time in recent months.  But here are some of the questions I ask myself when I’m considering whether to say yes to something or no to something:   Does this align with my long term goals? Does this align with my short term goals? What is the time commitment? What are the benefits for me, my business, my family? What is my excitement level?   I’d love to hear from your in our Proof to Product Facebook group.  What questions do you ask yourself when you’re deciding whether or not to move forward with a project?  Weigh in and let me now.  You can join our free Facebook group by going to tradeshowcamp.com/join.

Rosie O’Neill is the co-founder of Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique that features the finest sweets from artisan candy makers around the world. Rosie and her fiancé Josh Resnick launched Sugarfina in July 2012. The idea for the company was inspired by their third date — when they watched the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and they were left wondering why their wasn’t candy boutiques for grown ups.   Rosie was named to Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People” list, and Goldman Sachs’ “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs,”. She is disrupting the sweets space with an innovative approach to confections and retail.   Before candy, Rosie played with dolls for 7 years as Director of Marketing for Barbie at Mattel, where she led a global business unit that sold more than 50 million Barbie dolls annually. She received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA. Her favorite candies are Champagne Bears, Peach Bellini and Sparkle Pops.   On today’s episode, Rosie shares her start up story as well as lessons she learned as they scaled Sugarfina into the large brand it is today --  with wholesale and retail channels, a bustling online shop, 50 retail locations and a range of licensing collaborations. Rosie offers some really great suggestions — including the importance of self-care, why we need to be careful about which opportunities we say yes and no to and things she looks for when hiring members of her team. ON TODAY’S EPISODE: Her favorite Sugarfina candy right now & the most popular flavors with customers How much she loves getting to dream up & invent different candies Rosie’s background prior to Sugarfina Her transition to entrepreneurship & how she decided upon luxury candy The hurdles at the beginning & how she navigated that How her previous position at Mattel helped her start & scale Sugarfina What her early goals were for the business The experience of adding brick & mortar stores very quickly Her first hires & what she looked for in an employee when she first started hiring Whether or not she fears hiring people who one day might become a competitor The fact that they did not have a business plan when they first started & why she thinks it can be beneficial sometimes not to have one at the start Moments and decisions that propelled her business forward The criteria she uses for deciding to pursue an opportunity or not How she cultivates a positive work culture An important lesson Rosie has learned through her entrepreneurial journey Rosie’s advice on creating your product & getting your product to market How she decides when to discontinue a product What’s next for Sugarfina KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “It's like we get to play Willy Wonka because we dream up and invent all these crazy, fun flavors and cute shapes and fun colors, and then we get to bring them to life.” - Rosie O’Neill “I had always in the back of my head wanted to do something entrepreneurial, but I thought I was going to do it in my fifties. It came way, way, way sooner than I imagined, but I think sometimes you just have those moments of luck where everything kind of comes together and you just don't overthink it.” - Rosie O’Neil “It [Sugarfina] is a dream and I love it but it's also the absolute hardest thing I've ever done and just exhausting at times.” - Rosie O’Neil “I'm really proud of the fact that as we have grown, we have always been able to deliver on that quality and that amazing customer experience, but everything under the surface has just been chaos and a mess.” - Rosie O’Neil “I'm always kind of looking at what's coming up but it's important to take a moment and look back on how far we've come and it's pretty cool.” - Rosie O’Neil “We love to bring in people who one day want to start their own company but they're not quite ready and Sugarfina can be a learning environment for them.” - Rosie O’Neil “I want to make sure that we have an environment where people want to stay because they're continuing to grow, and learn, and feel empowered.” - Rose O’Neil “I am all for people going out and starting their new company if they want to, but stay with us as long as you can and really get to know all the things you're going to need to know to start a business because it's hard.” - Rosie O’Neill “I think sometimes you got to just go for it and be willing to put out something that's not perfect and then learn and continue to perfect.” - Rosie O’Neill “You really need to create a culture where people feel connected to the big picture and like they're really making an impact.” - Rosie O’Neill “I don't care if you have hours that are slightly different than a normal working day, I just care about the output of your work and that's how I'm going to look at things.” - Rosie O’Neill “We have a no assholes policy.” - Rosie O’Neill “You really have to take care of yourself because there is an endless amount of work to do when you run your business.” - Rosie O’Neill “Get your product out in front of the real world as quickly as you can.” - Rosie O’Neill “Even though there's all these great data analytics and all these tools, you can't lose touch of the human connection and I think a lot of companies let that fall by the wayside and you really have got to prioritize that.” - Rosie O’Neill CONNECT WITH ROSIE: Website: http://sugarfina.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sugarfina/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugarfina/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sugarfina/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/sugarfina LINKS: Sugarfina Rewards BOOTH BLUEPRINT: If you’re gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn’t break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass.   I’m sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end.  To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list.   SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

‘I wanted to play with Barbies, but I also loved smashing up a computer and learning about silicon chips.' Despite growing up in a tech savvy, entrepreneurial family, Jesse Draper didn't see herself as a venture capitalist for a long time because ‘that's not what women do.' So, how do we level the playing field and get girls to see themselves in roles as startup founders, investors and board members? Jesse is the founding partner of Halogen Ventures, a VC firm focused on early-stage investing in female-founded consumer technology startups. Her portfolio includes Laurel & Wolf, Carbon38, the Skimm, HopSkipDrive and Sugarfina, among many others. Jesse is also the creator and host of 2015 Emmy-nominated series The Valley Girl Show, producing and distributing 500 interviews with some of the greatest minds in technology and entrepreneurship. She has been a contributor to Marie Claire, Mashable and Forbes, and Jesse serves on the board of Werk, SurfAir and nonprofit Bizworld. Today, Jesse joins us at Boost to share her path to becoming a venture capitalist and offer insight around women in VC. She explains the impetus behind The Valley Girl Show, discussing the hustle required to launch and sustain a long-running tech talk show in the broken media industry. Listen in to understand how Jesse eventually came to see herself as a capable VC and learn how to raise girls who aren't afraid to build jetpacks or take apart computers. Connect with Jesse Halogen Ventures http://halogenvc.com/ Halogen on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/halogenvc/ Halogen on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/halogenvc/ Jesse on Twitter https://twitter.com/JesseDraper Resources Steam https://store.steampowered.com/ Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/ Shoe Dog by Phil Knight https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Phil-Knight/dp/1508211809 Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/ Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/ Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

In this episode of Making the Brand, Billy interviews Rosie O'Neill, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Sugarfina. Sugarfina is based in El Segundo, CA and was founded on the premise of 'candy for adults'. Rosie discusses starting a business with her then-boyfriend (now fiancee), and growing it to a $60m/year candy empire. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sweet Tales of Entrepreneurship & Scaling Up with NetSuite:   We're back at Oracle NetSuite SuiteWorld convention in Las Vegas. Our first guest went from roofing, to real estate, to... hand bags? Tony Drockton has had an unorthodox entrepreneurial journey, but 10 years ago he stepped up as CEO and 'chief cheerleader' at Hammitt, a luxury fashion brand based in Los Angeles that emphasizes quality craftsmanship and a customer-forward design language. Tony offers some surprising advice for individuals looking to make a splash in the dog-eat-dog fashion industry - Don't become an entrepreneur, learn why. Next, you may be familiar with the industrious story of Alex Scott, a young girl who battled pediatric cancer and raised $1-million to fund cancer research. Although Alex has passed, her legacy continues through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation which has raised over $150-million to date. Senior Project Coordinator, Patrick Scott, shares how ALSF is funding impactful research and empowering families affected by childhood cancer. Then, Sugarfina is the boutique candy company delighting the taste buds of consumers through 50 retail locations and a sweet online store. Senior Director of Operations, Danny Coorsh, explains how NetSuite's business management software has allowed Sugarfina to dramatically scale up operations in just five short years. [00:00:00] Roofing, Real Estate, and Handbags? [00:05:42] Hammitt's Customer-Focused Designs [00:11:30] How to Grow Beyond Life in the Cubicle [00:18:21] Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation [00:27:49] Develop a Strong Omni-channel Presence [00:33:22] Scaling Up Operations with NetSuite

After seven years working her way up at Mattel, Rosie O’Neill decided to follow her heart (and tummy) and started her own business that is now a multi-million dollar international company. Rosie chats with us about Sugarfina’s early days and what it takes to be an entrepreneur and find your company’s sweet spot today. Tips and tricks The quickest way to grow a company is through dedicated, smart people. Hire people for longterm growth in mind, not the now even if you only need temp work at the time. Starting a business in an old school category — candy, flea markets, mattresses — can be smart if you know how to stand out and be different since the public is familiar with the product. Come up with a marketing campaign or product that’s catchy for instant press to break through the marketing noise. Upon launching, Sugarfina released treats for the broken hearted instead of sweethearts on Valentine’s Day and landed in the pages of US Weekly.

Richele Silva is the founder of Richie Designs, a boutique design and letterpress studio located in Long Beach, California. Richele is an art director, stylist, designer and printer. She founded Richie Designs 12 years ago, first as a side hustle while she worked at an advertising agency. Richele's products are sold at Paper Source, Urban Outfitters and Sugarfina along with hundreds of independent boutiques across the U.S.   On today’s episode we’re talking about leveraging past work experiences in business and the benefits of moving slowly and steadily in your business. ON TODAY’S EPISODE: Her career path and how her previous stationery business led to Richie Designs Walking her first National Stationery Show in 1990 Her first greeting card company, Three Mulligans How her background in advertising helped prepare her for being a business owner Starting Richie Designs as a side hustle and then transitioning into it being her full-time gig How her background as a printer shaped the decisions she’s made for her business The “tipping points” in her business that helped her realize she could do this full-time Richele’s slow and steady approach to growing Richie Designs Her approach to social media and how it has changed over the years The advice she would give to people early on in their product-based businesses Richele’s favorite resource for her business What’s next for Richie Designs in 2018 KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “I remember having a conversation sitting with college girlfriends and we were talking about our dream jobs and greeting card designer was mine.” - Richele Silva “I want to meet everyone in their journey exactly where they are and I want to help them with whatever phase they're in.” - Katie Hunt “Having printed for other designers who don't print, I feel like it shapes my design for sure. Somebody who doesn't print is going to dream up three-color designs versus somebody who has to stand there and actually print it.” - Richele Silva “I just know I have to work slowly.” - Richele Silva “I don't think it's a bad thing to sit back and take a little breath.” - Richele Silva LINKSWebsite: http://www.richiedesigns.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Richie-Design-Letterpress-164221064003/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richiedesigns/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/richiedesigns/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/richiedesigns   JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:   Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams?  Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement?     Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach?  Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team?   Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more.  The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts.  You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you’d like.     This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry.  Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

If you’re looking for Sneaky Secrets for Audience Growth, download Jess’s super simple but powerful mini-course! Support our Patreon page! Speakpipe message! Or you can email feedback@shepodcasts.com. We look forward to hearing from you Super Quick Re-cap! We were confused about our own gift guide The best gifts for podcasters is pretty much always the same Elsie and John feel that one way about Christmas presents and Jess has other ideas And Auphonic is a good Christmas gift! An adorable dazzle dazzle benie! We all need our head to sparkle Three little bits of sugar FTW! Sugarfina! Sevenly is such a wonderful place to shop, with the cutest t-shirts and messages that support the cause that people matter! Have you ever wanted to play your women card? Well with Jess’s gift, now you can! In case you wanna color while you’re podcasting…and who doesn’t want that The Podcast Planner! Best present for everyone!!! Elsie found a women lifting their voice scarf and she had to buy it!!! In case you are looking to track your sleep and relax get Kokoon Elsie doesn’t want to be a conductor for things Gadgetify for the hardest people to shop for ever! Podcasters do have some cool stores, Elsie loves The Mac Power Users and Joyful Courage! The problem with having to send thing in the mail Jess wants a Cafe Press for jewelry Jess did say this “I hate local things” How do you make washi tape And we end up with a lovely discussion about essential oils What did the ladies buy for themselves on Black Friday? A chat about DNA Re-decorating your office and tons of fun stuff for making videos!!! Links mentioned by Jess and Elsie! Leave us feedback via Speakpipe! Auphonic The Podcast Planner The Joyful Courage Podcast Store Aromatherapy an A-Z Podcasting Deals Jess’s List Dazzle Beanie Sugarfina Woman Cards Boss Babe Yass Queen Yass Sleep Phones Gadgetify Elsie’s List Auphonic Desktop Programs! Sevenly Floracopeia Kokoon The Vida Company The Women Lifting Their Voice scarf Elsie bought She Podcasts thank-you to our Sponsors! Our editor John from Audio Editing Solutions. He is so good you need to hire him STAT! Shop for your podcasting education! The She Podcasts Shop Get your FREE How To Podcast tutorial! Help Us Spread The Word! It would be stellar if you shared She Podcasts with your fellow women podcasters on twitter. Click here to tweet some love! If this episode got you all fired up, head on over to iTunes and SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW! And if you're moved to, kindly leave us a rating and review. Ways to subscribe to She Podcasts! Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS You can also subscribe via Stitcher Feedback + Promotion for Women Podcasters You can ask your questions, comment below, go to the She Podcasts Facebook group and even share your promos for your podcast! Let your voice be heard. Send it all to feedback@shepodcasts.com    

Female entrepreneur/venture capitalist/actress Jesse Draper is living proof that women can do anything! Listen to this podcast if you want to leave your 9-5 job and pursue your passion! Rachael soaks up knowledge from Jesse on how to start your own business, manage family life, and take that leap of faith into entrepreneurship. Jesse breaks down the steps to teach young entrepreneurs how to pursue their side passion/blog/innovative idea and make it truly come to life. Jesse also tells Rachael about her new Shark Tank-esque show called "The Drapers" where she, her father and her grandfather (did we mention she comes from a long line of venture capitalists?) invest in real ideas and real entrepreneurs -- as they've been doing independently for years! Jesse shares insights from her many interviews with famed female CEOs (she's interviewed Jessica Alba, among many others) and she tells Rachael about her own leaps of faith, investing in companies from their infancy -- including Sugarfina and Paperless Post. Marie Claire named Jesse one of the "50 Most Connected People in America". Get inspired and follow Jesse @jessedraper! Are you in need of great talent for your business but short on time? With ZipRecruiter, you can post your job to over 100 of the web's leading job boards and receive qualified candidates back within one day -- for FREE! Just go to www.ziprecruiter.com/behere Get $20 off Rachael's favorite Away carry-on suitcase! Just use promo code: BEHERE at www.awaytravel.com/behere Bombas socks are the most comfortable, cozy socks and YOU can get 20% off your first purchase at www.bombas.com/behere -- so go get yourself a bunch of new socks! ZOLA is reinventing the wedding planning and registry experience to make the happiest moment in our couples' lives even happier!! Sign up and get a $50 credit towards your registry at: zola.com/behere!!

Rosie O’Neill is an entrepreneur with a sweet tooth. She is the founder and CEO of Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique that started in Beverley Hills. “You really should be hiring people as though you are going to be spending most of your life with them, because you are going to be spending a good amount of your week with them.” - Rosie O’Neill. Learn more about this episode of She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff at www.JoyChudacoff.com/14

Rosie O’Neill Bio Rosie O'Neill is a newbie entrepreneur with a major sweet tooth. In August 2012, she launched her first company, Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique featuring the finest candies from around the world, beautiful packaged and presented. Sugarfina opened its first retail boutique in Beverly Hills in November 2013 and now has 15 stores in major cities across the U.S., including New York, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco and Vancouver. Named one of the world’s most beautiful candy shops by Architectural Digest, Sugarfina is disrupting the sweet space at retail with an innovative store design and experience. Before candy, Rosie played with dolls for 7 years as Director of Marketing for Barbie at Mattel, where she led a global business unit that sold more than 50 million Barbie dolls annually. She received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA. Her favorite candies are Champagne Bears, Peach Bellini and Fuji Apple Caramels.

Rosie O’Neill Bio Rosie O'Neill is a newbie entrepreneur with a major sweet tooth. In August 2012, she launched her first company, Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique featuring the finest candies from around the world, beautiful packaged and presented. Sugarfina opened its first retail boutique in Beverly Hills in November 2013 and now has 15 stores in major cities across the U.S., including New York, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco and Vancouver. Named one of the world’s most beautiful candy shops by Architectural Digest, Sugarfina is disrupting the sweet space at retail with an innovative store design and experience. Before candy, Rosie played with dolls for 7 years as Director of Marketing for Barbie at Mattel, where she led a global business unit that sold more than 50 million Barbie dolls annually. She received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA. Her favorite candies are Champagne Bears, Peach Bellini and Fuji Apple Caramels.

Rosie O'Neill, Co-Founder of Sugarfina Rosie O'Neill is a newbie entrepreneur with a major sweet tooth.    In August 2012, she launched her first company, Sugarfina, a gourmet candy boutique featuring the finest candies from around the world.    Named "Best New Candy Shop" by Yahoo and Food & Wine, Sugarfina has been featured by The Today Show, Oprah's "O List," Forbes, Bon Appetit, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, InStyle and numerous other publications.    In 2013, Rosie was named one of the "100 Most Creative People in Business" by Fast Company magazine.

Rosie O’Neill is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of luxury confections brand Sugarfina.